Excited to share our latest paper, published in Experimental Neurology. Congratulations to @ingapartlova.bsky.social on her first first-author publication! 🔗 You can read the paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ex...
James N. Sleigh
@jamessleigh.bsky.social
Professor of Peripheral Nerve Disease at UCL | Gene Therapies for Neuromuscular Disease | CMT, ALS & SMA | Editor-in-Chief at Journal of Anatomy
*Save the date* 🗓️ 20th Annual Neuromuscular Translational Research Conference will take place Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st April 2027, at the UCL Institute of Child Health in London. More info to follow in coming months.
For me this paper is a career highlight..truly astonishing biology! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A queen odour mediates reproductive suppression in a eusocial mammal - Nature
Naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) queens produce isopropyl myristate, a low-volatility ester that high-ranking animals detect and avoid, which alters prolactin and progesterone in other females t...
nature.com
In our latest pre-print, we show that mice with the neuropathy-causing GARS1 ∆ETAQ mutation display robust pathology in subsets of peripheral nerves: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Well done @beccasimkin.bsky.social and Aurélie Paulo-Ramos! @uclqsneuromuscular.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social
Delighted to see this paper finally published. New insights into the impact of aging on the human NMJ (hint: it’s NOT denervation!): JCI - Neuromuscular junction failure in sarcopenia is linked to NaV1.4 loss and reversed by ClC-1 inhibition www.jci.org/articles/vie...
JCI - Neuromuscular junction failure in sarcopenia is linked to NaV1.4 loss and reversed by ClC-1 inhibition
jci.org
Join THE NEW-ROTROPHIN and stay on top of the last literature about neurotrophic factors in health and disease, from molecular genetics and cell biology to clinical trials in cancer and neuroscience. It's free and community-driven. thenewrotrophin.base44.app/Newsletter
The NEW-rotrophin
Stay at the forefront of neurotrophic factor research. The newsletter delivers weekly curated updates on the latest publications, preprints, and news, keeping you informed and connected with the globa...
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Really beautiful images and another win for @beccasimkin.bsky.social! Congratulations! 💪 @uclqsneuromuscular.bsky.social
FocalPlane @focalplane.bsky.social · 2mo agoWe have a winner! Congratulations to Rebecca Simkin @beccasimkin.bsky.social, whose image of a muscle spindle received the most votes (by one!) in our image competition with #ELMI2026. #FluorescenceFriday Check out Rebecca's image and the rest of out shortlist here:
New! C. elegans models for Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood; project led by Diana Wall, PhD at Brown University. All models show dominant defects, but each disease variant has unique defects…paralleling AHC patient allele differences #AHC #DMM #Celegans
Caenorhabditis elegans models of alternating hemiplegia of childhood have dominant neuromuscular junction defects
Summary: We report the first C. elegans models of alternating hemiplegia of childhood. D801N, E815K, L839P and G947R AHC model animals have recessive development defects and dominant neuromuscular def...
journals.biologists.com
If you’re interested in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and/or the neuromuscular junction, we have just the review for you! link.springer.com/content/pdf/... From the phenomenal Louisa Snape #CMT #neuropathy #NMJ @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclqsneuromuscular.bsky.social
🚨 We’re Hiring! 🚨 Journal of Anatomy is looking for a new Editor-in-Chief to join one of the world’s most respected platforms in anatomical science. Passionate about advancing scholarly research in the anatomical sciences? Visit the link - tinyurl.com/znwubuu2
Congrats to Jobert, Anna-Leigh, and Kai on showing how #BDNF amplifies #transcription, coordinates #RNA dynamics, and spatially regulates the #phosphoproteome. Beautiful cover art too! @jamessleigh.bsky.social @frattalab.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor coordinates neuron-intrinsic programs to enhance axonal regeneration in human motor neurons
BDNF promotes axon-regenerative gene expression, RNA metabolism, and kinase signaling in motor neurons.
science.org
BiO is pleased to launch a new grant: BiO Global South Conference Travel Grants, to help ECRs based in the Global South attend international biological and biomedical science conferences. Next application deadline: 19 June 2026. tinyurl.com/22zx7msy
Download our database of free database of postdoc fellowships. 276 funding opportunities. For entry, we provide eligibility/requirements, amount, deadline, link, description, etc. Download database here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
⚡️We are excited to share a new paper from the lab by @drkhole.bsky.social in @cp-cellrepmethods.bsky.social - suggesting MitoTracker dyes are not a reliable tool for detecting intercellular mitochondrial transfer❗️ www.cell.com/cell-reports...
MitoTracker transfers from astrocytes to neurons independently of mitochondria
The mitochondrial dye MitoTracker is commonly used to investigate intercellular mitochondrial transfer (IMT), particularly between astrocytes and neurons. Hole et al. compare MitoTracker with a geneti...
cell.com
Save the date for #NeuroBioUK26 Do you like neurons? Maybe glia? Molecules? Cell biology? - The venue is booked and we are excited to see you and your incredible science there on the 11th of September! Please do join our email list to stay up to date. neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk
A wonderful video as part of #UCL200 - demonstrating what can be achieved when scientists work in partnership with the people impacted by disease. Carol Jennings was a phenomenal woman & that legacy continues www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Qo...
Here, we make historic breakthroughs in Alzheimer's
YouTube video by UCL Advancement
youtube.com
Looking for a review on #BDNF in neurological disease? Dr. Aurélie Paulo-Ramos has reviewed the latest info on its role in CNS and PNS neuropathologies for you: portlandpress.com/biochemsoctr... @dvillarroelc.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclqsneuromuscular.bsky.social #neurotrophins
A fantastic opportunity to join the team of Professor Andrea Cortese at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, as a PhD student to work on genetic modifiers of RFC1 repeat expansion-associated CANVAS The PhD is funded for 3 years, deadline 28th Feb. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQK678/p...
PhD Studentship: Genetic Modifiers to Untangle Disease Mechanisms of RFC1 Repeat Expansion at UCL Institute of Neurology
jobs.ac.uk now advertising a PhD Studentship: Genetic Modifiers to Untangle Disease Mechanisms of RFC1 Repeat Expansion Visit jobs.ac.uk to apply and to browse more PhD opportunities.
jobs.ac.uk
Reem Abouward, Giampietro Schiavo & team find that LAMP1 and LAMP2A localise to distinct axonal organelles with differential transport dynamics, but share overlapping total protein compositions. Highlight: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Neurotrophin-containing signalling endosomes travel from the distal axon to the soma. ALS-linked kinase TBK1 governs the directionality of their transport in motor neurons by phosphorylating Rab7. www.life-science-alliance.org/content/9/4/...
The peer reviewed and updated version of this work is now online (although not quite the fully formatted version). We had an existential crisis about kinesin-1 regulation while developing this work, but we are super proud of everything we put into this project. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Kinesin-1 is highly flexible and adopts an open conformation in the absence of cargo
Kinesin-1 is an essential anterograde microtubule motor protein. The core kinesin motor is a homodimer of two heavy chains; N-terminal motor domains hydrolyse ATP and walk along microtubules, whilst a...
cell.com
Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 2y agoStill have energy for science in the dark end of the year? Our new preprint is up. The tl;dr - we took a deep dive on kinesin-1 conformational dynamics and came up with a model that is basically “it’s really floppy”. Evie who led the work compared it to the air dancer gifs, and now I can’t unsee it.
"I might not have felt the need to step away from academia had we aimed for a lower impact journal...success isn’t solely a matter of high-impact papers...its tracing a path that isn’t defined by what others expect of me" www.science.org/content/arti...
How chasing a high-impact publication nearly broke me
“Looking back, I’m not sure it was worth the sacrifice,” this scientist writes
science.org
Learn about #axon regulation in the EMBO | The Company of Biologists Workshop "Axonal degeneration and regeneration" in Onna-son, JP, 18–22 Oct. Abstract submission/Registration by 31 May/15 Jun https://meetings.embo.org/event/26-axonal-degeneration #EMBOAxonalRegeneration #EMBOevents #meeting 🧪
🧪 An EMBO Meeting on Axon Biology in Okinawa, Japan Iconic science at an amazing venue. Please join us! EMBO | COB Workshop on Axonal degeneration and regeneration meetings.embo.org/event/26-axo...
Axonal degeneration and regeneration
Neurons are the largest and most long-lived class of cells, necessitating specialized mechanisms for their survival, growth and maintenance. Axons are the longest extensions of a neuron, reaching len…
meetings.embo.org
My team are running the Peripheral Nerve Society's Instagram account this week: www.instagram.com/pnsociety1 If you like images of the nervous system, please check it out! #FluorescenceFriday @uclqsneuromuscular.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Hosts Neuromuscular Diseases Research Day 2025. A fantastic day bringing together clinicians, researchers and trainees to share insights and celebrate progress in NMD research. 🧠 @uclqsion.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social Read more: bit.ly/48N8tPI
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology hosts Neuromuscular Diseases Research Day 2025
The latest Neuromuscular Diseases (NMD) Research Day took place in November 2025, bringing together clinicians, researchers, and partners to strengthen the future of NMD research.
bit.ly
Didn't realize Gipi (Giampietro Schiavo) was Neuro Editor @jcellsci.bsky.social longer than I have had a lab...: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Interview with Professor Giampietro Schiavo
ABSTRACT. Giampietro Schiavo is a Professor of Cellular Neuroscience, Deputy Director for strategy at Queen Square Institute of Neurology, academic lead of the Alzheimer Research UK Drug Discovery Ins...
journals.biologists.com
Do all #NTFs regulate #MotorNeuron axonal transport in vivo? Our new preprint shows they do not. #BDNF enhances (shorturl.at/siwFi), #CNTF slows, and #HGF, #NRTN & #proBDNF show no effect. #AxonalTransport regulation is selective, not universal. @jamessleigh.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social
bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 10mo agoCNTF specifically slows down the axonal transport of signalling endosomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.09.681259v1