CMU researchers found how cells organize biomolecular condensates, revealing that the tiny cellular workstations work better when spread out, speeding ribosomal RNA production and boosting efficiency. 🧪 #Biology #MolecularBiology www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...

Study Reveals How RNA Organizes Cellular Proteins

A new study from Carnegie Mellon University identifies a mechanism that controls how cell condensate patterns form and how they play a key role in a cell’s function.

cmu.edu

Here's a quick teaser trailer about some cool work on the hierarchical organization of biomolecular condensates from the lab of @jhenninger.bsky.social!

CMU Mellon College of Science@cmuscience.bsky.social · last mo.

CMU researchers found how cells organize biomolecular condensates, revealing that the tiny cellular workstations work better when spread out, speeding ribosomal RNA production and boosting efficiency. 🧪 #Biology #MolecularBiology www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...

Full spectrum of multi-colored "zebrabow" larvae. Credit to @jhenninger.bsky.social. #PrideMonth 🏳️‍🌈🐟 #ZebrafishZunday 🧪

JIT 4 summer, the latest preprint from our lab, brilliantly led by @kaitezhang.bsky.social w/ support from Collepardo lab (@juliamaristany.bsky.social / @janhuemar.bsky.social). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... describes a new single-molecule epigenomic method, & discoveries it enables ... (1/n)

Single-molecule nucleosome spacing coordinates chromatin fiber interactions

Nucleosome spacing influences higher-order chromatin fiber organization in vitro but how this relates to cellular chromosome structure remains contentious. To address this, we developed Ligation Analy...

biorxiv.org

Did you know that stem cells have unusually large transcription clusters, which disappear upon differentiation? Yes? You paid attention in 2018! In 2026, we show you that this process proceeds via massive, global shifts in transcriptional control. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Excited to share the first pre-print from our lab!! Check it out here! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We found that many RNA-binding proteins canonically understood to regulate RNA processing can also function like transcription factors and cofactors to directly regulate transcription.

See our handy graphical abstract and article for free here: bit.ly/4vsl845

Jon Henninger@jhenninger.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Check out our new work in Cell Systems @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social! Much of the biochemistry in the cell is organized by biomolecular condensates, but what mechanisms control the distribution of a given condensate throughout the cell? And is this mesoscale organization important for function?

Check out our new work in Cell Systems @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social! Much of the biochemistry in the cell is organized by biomolecular condensates, but what mechanisms control the distribution of a given condensate throughout the cell? And is this mesoscale organization important for function?

Andriy Goychuk@andriygoychuk.bsky.social · 2mo ago

How are biomolecular condensates spatially organized? As example, we focus on fibrillar centers producing ribosomal RNA in the nucleolus. Disrupting this function disrupts their patterning, and disrupting patterning disrupts function. Out in Cell Systems: authors.elsevier.com/c/1nA3C8YyDf... (1/6)

🆕 review with @jpunfried.bsky.social out in Nature SMB. Direct roles of lncRNAs in transcriptional activation. What do we understand about how lncRNAs lure Pol2 and set the stage for RNA production, and what do we still miss? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Direct roles of long non-coding RNAs in transcription activation - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

This Review discusses how long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) control transcription activation by RNA polymerase II, including how they are produced at active enhancers or chromatin-domain boundaries and ac...

nature.com

New preprint: "A branching cell-fate decision in biofilm dispersal enables long-term surface persistence." When V. cholerae biofilms disperse, it isn’t a uniform exit, rather, an opportunity to bet-hedge. A subpopulation of cells stay behind, primed for biofilm regrowth. doi.org/10.64898/202...

Pleased to share our latest paper, out today in Molecular Cell: “Multi-site DMS probing reveals higher-order structure of RNA-protein complexes in living cells” www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Multi-site DMS probing reveals higher-order structure of RNA-protein complexes in living cells

Saleem et al. introduce multi-site DMS-MaP (msDMS-MaP), a chemical probing strategy that permits simultaneous mapping of RNA secondary structures and typically concealed tertiary structures and protei...

cell.com

Check out this interesting work from @katiegelder.bsky.social and @danbose.bsky.social describing how IDRs within CBP temper acetylation. Very cool work!

Dan Bose@danbose.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Massive thanks to @jhenninger.bsky.social for the thoughtful preview of @katiegelder.bsky.social's recent story on CBP-IDRs. It’s fantastic to see her findings situated in the broader context of one of biology’s most dynamic fields* #IDRs #transcription #condensates www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Really pleased to share the *final* version of @katiegelder.bsky.social's super work, profiling the functional roles of #IDRs in CBP. Published today 🎉 🔗https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117109 #IDRs #condensates #transcription #CBP #generegulation #enhancers (1/7)

Incredibly proud to share our new preprint, lead by the Incomparable Rithika Sankar. Here we temporally dissect the role of FACT in mES cells, finding that FACT loss drives progressive deterioration of chromatin architecture, leading to transcriptional collapse. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am excited to share a new review @cp-molcell.bsky.social written in collaboration with @tanjamittag.bsky.social , Mikayla Eppert, and Ambuja Navalkar where we review the current evidence for and against the role of density transitions in regulating transcription www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

CMU researchers have uncovered a bacterial vulnerability that could lead to a new class of treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections. Instead of killing bacteria, their approach targets pathways that control behavior. 🧪 #Biology #MolecularBiology www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...

Researchers Identify New Target To Fight Antibiotic Resistance

Carnegie Mellon University researchers, including Assistant Professor Drew Bridgs and graduate student Emmy Nguyen, have uncovered a vulnerability in bacteria that could pave the way for an entirely n...

cmu.edu

I am recruiting postdoctoral fellows to develop new research directions in the lab. We study transcriptional regulation through biomolecular condensates in development and disease, with an emphasis on first-principles and mechanistic discovery. Please repost or share with colleagues.

What's larger, a protein or its templating mRNA ? > The mRNA is much larger. ⬛ 𝐀 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 -- 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 -- 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡. The figure shows myoglobin protein drawn to scale next to its mRNA template. The coding sequence of an mRNA ...

Physicists' perspective on the future direction of condensates in Cell Biology. arxiv.org/abs/2601.03677

Roadmap for Condensates in Cell Biology

Biomolecular condensates govern essential cellular processes yet elude description by traditional equilibrium models. This roadmap, distilled from structured discussions at a workshop and reflecting t...

arxiv.org

The Mellon College of Science had an extraordinary year in 2025. From groundbreaking research to inspiring leadership, our faculty, students and community came together to advance science. Explore the moments and milestones that defined the year: www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...

2025 Year in Review

2025 was quite a year for the Mellon College of Science.

cmu.edu

New preprint led by super🌟 PhD student @eloisewells.bsky.social! Here we explore using exon-skipping to remove upstream open reading frames (uORFs) and increase protein translation as a therapeutic approach for rare haploinsufficient disorders 🧬 To learn more see Eloise's 🧵 👇

Eloise Beer Wells@eloisewells.bsky.social · 8mo ago

*A new pre-print on increasing gene expression!* 🧬📈 doi.org/10.64898/202...

Our Science paper is out! Huge congratulations to @huabin-zhou.bsky.social, Mike Rosen, and the brilliant @janhuemar.bsky.social @juliamaristany.bsky.social and @kieran-russell.bsky.social from our group News: bit.ly/4avnkAr and bit.ly/3XBGVHS Great perspective by @vram142.bsky.social +K Zhang

Di Jiang@dijiang319.bsky.social · 8mo ago

@science.org 🧬🔬 Multiscale structure of #chromatin condensates explains phase separation and material properties | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @janhuemar.bsky.social et al.

Really looking forward to presenting our lab's most recent work on transcriptional control and a surprising non-enzymatic function for RNA polymerase II

FragileNucleosome@fnucleosome.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🔔Join us next Wednesday for #FragileNucleosome! 2 fantastic talks on chromatin regulation:🔬 @mariamafau.bsky.social on ZIC2's dual role in neural induction 🔬 @jhenninger.bsky.social on how RNA-binding proteins drive transcription 📋Register here for the entire series: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Unpause! I'm super happy to now be able to share the published version of our paper at Science Advances showing that: 1) active histone mods occur independently of transcription 2) transcription coordinates histone deacetylation at active promoters www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

RNA polymerase II coordinates histone deacetylation at active promoters

Transcription initiation limits histone acetylation and H2AZ incorporation at promoters.

science.org

We’re excited to share our new work in Soft Matter: doi.org/10.1039/D5SM... We demonstrate how in vitro transcription can drive biomolecular phase separation — and how that phase separation in turn regulates transcription.

Condensation and activator/repressor control of a transcription-regulated biomolecular liquid

Cells operate in part by compartmentalizing chemical reactions. For example, recent work has shown that chromatin, the material that contains the cell's genome, can auto-regulate its structure by util...

doi.org

We are pleased to announce a new preprint by @mlweilert.bsky.social: “Widespread low-affinity motifs enhance chromatin accessibility and regulatory potential in mESCs” (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...). See summary and longer recap below: (TLDR; low-affinity motifs matter as pioneers!)

Widespread low-affinity motifs enhance chromatin accessibility and regulatory potential in mESCs

Low-affinity transcription factor (TF) motifs are an important element of the cis-regulatory code, yet they are notoriously difficult to map and mechanistically incompletely understood, limiting our a...

biorxiv.org

Interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences? Join Carnegie Mellon University’s info session on Nov. 12 to learn how our program prepares students to become impactful scientific leaders. apply-dc-mcs.mcs.cmu.edu/register/?id...

(1/10) How do diverse leukemia mutations converge on the same molecular program? In #RibackLab first manuscript @cp-cell.bsky.social, collaboration with @goodell-lab.bsky.social shows that disparate mutations rewire shared protein networks to form nuclear condensates called C-bodies.

CMU biologist @jhenninger.bsky.social is uncovering how RNA shapes gene expression and drives disease. His lab is developing tools to visualize transcription and design RNA-based therapies, paving the way for precision treatments for cancers like leukemia. www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...

Henninger Explores Targeting RNA in Cancer Prevention, Treatment

Jonathan Henninger, assistant professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon, is finding ways to treat cancer with molecular precision.

cmu.edu

Make an impact in Pittsburgh! We are seeking the next Head of the Dept. of Bio Sciences, with Ferra Executive Search. Nominate or refer now: apply.interfolio.com/174916 #STEMLeadership #HigherEd #LifeSciences #AcademicJobs #jobs #Pittsburgh #CarnegieMellonUniversity #FerraSearch #BiologyChair