GTPBP1 is a GTPase implicated in neurodevelopment. Our cryo-EM maps show GTPBP1 delivering tRNA to ribosome. Due to delayed GTPase dissociation, mRNA decoding is more stringent than with bona fide delivery factor eEF1A. Congrats to Denis Susorov and collab with Pestova lab! tinyurl.com/3smdvt3v

Check out our latest work on how collided ribosomes activate the MAP3K ZAK! 💫 www.nature.com/articles/s41... A fun collaboration with @beckmannlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social

ZAK activation at the collided ribosome - Nature

The kinase ZAK is activated at collided ribosomes to mediate the ribotoxic stress response.

nature.com

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41282059/

Saskemycin, a potent and selective antimycobacterial agent targeting a unique site on the ribosome - PubMed

Tuberculosis is the deadliest bacterial disease on the planet. The months-long regimen of multiple antibiotics required to treat tuberculosis profoundly affects the microbiome and leads to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections pose an incr …

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Using "in extracto cryo-EM", we visualize ribosomes in mammalian lysates, including RRL. "Hibernating" ribosomes carry an extended set of proteins that protect functional centers. These include elongation factor eEF2, LARP1 implicated in mTOR signaling, eIF5A etc. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

ROOL monomers entangle with other monomers via strand swapping to form octameric RNA nanocages. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With our ‪@RTI-UMassChan.bsky.social‬ colleagues Xiaobin Ling and Wenwen Fang, we report cryo-EM structures of enigmatic bacterial RNA nanocages made of ROOL RNAs. Octamers are held by "A-minor staples" and other interactions. Congrats Xiaobin, Dima et al! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Activation of Retron-Septu for antiphage defense. Congrats Tian-Min and all co-authors! www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Fresh off the press…our latest study on the Structure of a Gcn2 dimer in complex with the large 60S ribosomal subunit | great collaboration with inada and Zaher labs. Data collected by Bertrand Beckert at the DCI EPFL www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Structure of a Gcn2 dimer in complex with the large 60S ribosomal subunit | PNAS

The integrated stress response (ISR) is a central signaling network that enables eukaryotic cells to respond to a variety of different environmenta...

pnas.org

I spoke up for science at the Worcester, MA hands off rally, followed Congressman Jim McGovern. #handsoff #protest #50501

RNA researcher Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, professor of RNA therapeutics at UMass Chan Medical School, receives the Else Kröner Fresenius Prize for Medical Research 2025! @umasschan.bsky.social Congratulations! 🎉 For more details: www.ekfs.de/en/current-t... www.ekfprize25.de #EKFprize25 #EKFS

Taking a cue from @cantlonlab.bsky.social, I have written an op-ed for my local newspaper about the impact of the NIH funding chaos. I'd appreciate it if you read and share. #NIH #Research #Science #Worcester www.telegram.com/story/opinio...

Opinion/Guest column: Gutting NIH a disaster in the marking for research, local economy

Less research equates to less business between the university and these Worcester companies, spreading the pain far beyond campus borders.

telegram.com

E. coli HrpA RNA helicase rescue collided ribosomes. From Buskirk-Beckmann-Green labs #RNASky #Ribosome 🧪 #MicroSky www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

The RNA helicase HrpA rescues collided ribosomes in E. coli

Antibiotics that inhibit ribosomes lead to collisions on mRNAs when upstream ribosomes catch up with stalled ones. Campbell et al. show that the HrpA protein in E. coli senses ribosome collisions and ...

cell.com

Our paper on Stopless-ORF Circular RNAs (socRNAs) is now out in Cell. By high-res tracking and comparing translation by either single or multiple ribosomes, we find that ribosomes cooperate to overcome pausing to ensure fast and efficient translation www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Long-term imaging of individual ribosomes reveals ribosome cooperativity in mRNA translation

Ribosomes cooperate through transient collisions to ensure efficient translation.

cell.com

Our review on small endogenous RNAs in animals is online: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We thank @martinjsimard.bsky.social, @svobodalab.bsky.social and the third, anonymous, reviewer for helping us improve our manuscript. @lbmcinlyon.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social

A guide to the biogenesis and functions of endogenous small non-coding RNAs in animals - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Many new small RNA species and their derived fragments have been recently identified in animals. This Review discusses the biogenesis and functions of both structural small RNAs, such as tRNAs and sma...

nature.com

"On a molecular level, our structural studies reveal that interdictors bind in a linkerless heterobifunctional manner to both the rRNA and the nascent peptide chain ... much the way a PROTAC can be modularly designed and constructed"

bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 2y ago

Context-dependent translation inhibition as a novel oncology therapeutic modality https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.09.632223v1

Gabriel Demo and colleagues found how a small archaeal protein (aRDF) dimerizes 30S subunits to prevent ribosome formation:

Frances Yap@ribo1214.bsky.social · 2y ago

A growing list of anti-association factors, this time a 30S-dimerization factor in archaea #Ribosome #RNASky 🧪 ⤵️ doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Using reporters with long unstructured 5’ UTRs, we examined which initiation factors are limiting for 40S scanning in yeast. Our results&literature led to the model that 40S scans 5’ UTRs for the start codon by one-dimensional diffusion rather than by helicase-driven translocation.

40S ribosomal subunits scan mRNA for the start codon by one-dimensional diffusion

During eukaryotic translation initiation, the small (40S) ribosomal subunit is recruited to the 5ʹ cap and subsequently scans the 5ʹ untranslated region (5ʹ UTR) of mRNA in search of the start codon. ...

biorxiv.org

Our latest work is out in Nature today! Using smFRET, we directly visualized recruitment of the eIF4F complex to the 5' cap of eukaryotic mRNAs and formation of an activated mRNA. Our findings reveal new and surprising roles for each eIF4F component. 1/3 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

RiSANA is online! We detail the Ribosome Stimulated Angiogenin Nuclease Assay (RiSANA) to explore: (a) whether Angiogenin is activated by bacterial 70S ribosomes; and (b) whether the closest homolog RNase 4 is stimulated by 80S: tinyurl.com/3fftczrw Congrats Emily Sholi and Anna Loveland!

This is a lovely piece about the 2024 Nobel Prize to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, written by Bruce Wightman, the first author of one of the prize-winning papers. It emphasizes the importance of fundamental research and the beauty of heterochronic genes. #Celegans #devbio 🧪🧬 doi.org/10.1242/dmm....

It's about time: the heterochronic background for the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Summary: The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for the discovery of miRNAs; the groundwork was laid by investigating the timing of developmental events in nematodes.

doi.org

Yeast ribosomes adapt to glucose starvation by tethering to mitochondria in hibernation. Prolonged depletion halts protein synthesis and remodels ribosomes to create protective ribosome arrays. #ribosomes #RNASky #RNABiology #translation rdcu.be/d1xqj

Ribosomes hibernate on mitochondria during cellular stress

Nature Communications - Cells adapt to low glucose by halting protein synthesis and altering organelle shape. Here the authors showed that hibernating ribosomes tether to mitochondria and form...

rdcu.be

Very happy to share our new publication on the interaction between two nonsense mediated mRNA decay factors (Upf1 and yeast Nmd4 or human SMG6). 🍾 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

The dark side of fluorescent protein tagging: the impact of protein tags on biomolecular condensation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

instant classic, timeless insights, from the legend himself "The three central functions of protein synthesis...evolved from the properties of RNA, the founding macromolecule of life....these functions (and even life itself) seem to proceed in defiance of entropy." www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The ribosome comes to life

The ribosome is an ancient molecular machine that coverts the genetic information carried by mRNA into protein, a crucial step in linking genotype to phenotype. This review discusses landmark advances...

cell.com

How long does an mRNA stay in the nucleus? How long does it stay in the cytoplasm? In an amazing collaboration with @landthalerm.bsky.social, we used metabolic labeling, cell fractionation and mathematical modeling to quantify mRNA flow through the cell. Finally out in MSB: doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Activation of GCN2 relies on crossed helices at the dimer core: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae528/7906550

Ribosomes unexpectedly moonlight as activators of angiogenin enzyme https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01510-w

Angiogenin controls angiogenesis (et plus) by nicking tRNAs. But it’s barely active alone. We discovered how 80S ribosome unlocks Ang’s active site and “brings in” tRNAs. Congrats to Anna Loveland and collab. w/@ajplanetearth! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07508-8

Congratulations to Dr. Christine Carbone on the 2023 @UMassChan Chancellor's thesis award! Her PhD work clarifies ribosome rescue (http://rdcu.be/b9EtA) and ribosome translocation, via time-resolved cryo-EM (http://rdcu.be/cC6E9). Christine, congrats on your achievements!

Congrats to Dr. Christine Carbone on exemplar thesis defense! Christine @seussofscience used cryo-EM to visualize ribosomal translocation by EF-G*GTP (https://rdcu.be/cC6E9) and ribosome rescue by ArfB (https://rdcu.be/b9EtA) – an exciting science journey full of surprises!