Excited to share the very first #preprint since I started my lab at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social We explored the area of small molecule- #RNA interaction, and present SOLiD-MaP: a #photoproximity labeling platform for mapping small molecule binding site on RNA. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

SOLiD-MaP: A Photoproximity Labeling Platform for Small Molecule Binding Site Mapping on RNA

RNA-targeting small molecules are emerging as promising therapeutic modalities, but their development requires methods that define binding sites and evaluate RNA target selectivity. Existing approache...

biorxiv.org

We have a 3-year post-doc position open. Apply now and join BioBeyond_NL to power up mass spec studies with new chemical biology tools! www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

Postdoc Position in Chemical Biology

Join us to design cutting-edge chemical biology tools and reveal molecular mechanisms in complex biological systems.

uu.nl

RIP: Professor Dr. Johannes Frederik Gerardus (Hans) Vliegenthart (April 7, 1936 – February 12, 2026) A leading figure in structural Glycobiology. www.uu.nl/en/news/in-m...

In memoriam: Hans Vliegenthart

In memoriam: prof. dr. Hans Vliegenthart (April 7, 1936 – February 12, 2026)

uu.nl

Science update from my postdoc Peiyuan Chai - his work “glycoRNA complexed with heparan sulfate regulates VEGF-A signaling” is now published @nature.com uncovering a new layer or glycoRNA-regulation of growth factor mediated control physiological processes rdcu.be/e1bBX

How are RNAs presented on the cell surface without any transmembrane domains? In our paper published at Molecular Cell @cp-molcell.bsky.social, we provide mechanistic insights into this pressing question. They form ternary complexes with RNA-binding proteins and heparan sulfate proteoglycans.

Now finally peer-reviewed and published in @springernature.com Experimental & Molecular Medicine (EMM)🥳: www.nature.com/articles/s12... Our story was published back-to-back with the intriguing paper by Kim et al.: www.nature.com/articles/s12...

Proteins are a source of glycans found in preparations of glycoRNA - Experimental & Molecular Medicine

Glycosylation, a process where sugars attach to molecules, is known to modify proteins and lipids. Recently, researchers discovered that RNA can also be glycosylated. This study explores the presence ...

nature.com

Nathanael B. Kegel@nathanaelbkegel.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to share our preprint about proteins that we found in preparations of glycoRNAs now available on bioRxiv! #glycotime (1/9) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Had the pleasure to learn about this cool platform over a Friday afternoon seminar during Matt’s visit at UU.

Matthew Macauley@siglecdude.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Excited to share our laboratory's research tools to study Siglecs along with some interesting discoveries with these tools. Lot of help from many group, but @zeinab-jc.bsky.social was the major driver of this work. Please reach out if you would like to try them out. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New @angewandtechemie.bsky.social paper jointly supervised by Zeshi Li @lizeshi.bsky.social and Geert-Jan Boons describes the chemoenzymatic synthesis of O-acetylated GD3 as intact glycolipids, and the use there of to study virus binding in cellular context. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Chemoenzymatically Synthesized O‐Acetylated GD3 Gangliosides to Examine Viral Receptor Specificities in a Cellular Context

7-O-, 9-O-, and 7,9-di-O-acetylated GD3 gangliosides can be prepared by chemical assembly of a tetrasaccharide as α-glycosyl fluoride that is coupled to sphingosine using a glycosynthase, followed by...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

#glycotime We hope our b2b publications serve as a heads-up for the #glycoRNA community, and drive the field forward constructively. Links👇 Kim et al. rdcu.be/eP4GQ @nathanaelbkegel.bsky.social Kegel et al. nature.com/articles/s12276-025-01575-1 (Stefan Bauer lab)

Very happy that NWO supports this major upgrade of our national EM infrastructure. It is great that this initiative got broad support all over NL, and it will EMPower fantastic science - looking forward to that! www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...

33 million euro investment for national electron microscope facility EMPower

A major new national facility for electron microscopy, called EMPower, has been awarded to a consortium of Dutch universities and medical centers. EMPower aims to pave the way for major discoveries im...

uu.nl

Thrilled, and admittedly relieved, to see this major investment in Dutch #cryoEM become reality! 🇳🇱🔬 Honoured to be a co-applicant on this national initiative and very excited for the opportunity to advance our work in cellular structural virology! 🦠 www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...

Deeply honored to be a co-applicant of #BioBeyond_NL. The team will develop enabling #MassSpec based technologies to advance (glyco)proteomics, glycomics and spatial omics. Stay tuned for PhD/post-doc openings in the near future! www.nwo.nl/en/news/nati...

Congratulations to CBDD researchers, Geert-Jan Boons and Zeshi Li @lizeshi.bsky.social, and members of #BioBeyond_NL, a consortium co-led by Maastricht, Utrecht, Radboud University and LUMC researchers to advance (glyco)proteomics, glycomics and spatial omics. Read more👇 www.nwo.nl/en/news/nati...

Advancing #glycoRNA imaging with FRET-based detection and expanding the scope of their presentation to extracellular vesicles - interestingly high levels of sialoglycoRNAs on blood EVs can be predictive of having cancer @naturecomms.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

SCAM ALERT. This is a fake conference that ripped off my and other people’s names to trick people into registering. There is no such conference that I or the others shown were invited or agreed to. We are working to try to get this fraud taken down from the web. chemsymposia.com

Question for glycoRNA proponents: What specific evidence would convince you that these signals are protein contaminants rather than modified RNA? Since so much evidence depends on extraction & analysis of pure RNase-sensitive glycoRNA, this seems like a problem. Worth reading the whole exchange ⬇️

Chris Ashwood@cashwood.proteaglyco.com · last yr.

Second preprint casting doubt on glycoRNA. “we further demonstrate that recombinant soluble LAMP1 can be purified following the glycoRNA isolation method… thus representing a considerable source of glycans in samples of glycoRNA” Still waiting for a journal publication of either preprint.

Here is an updated version of a preprint posted in 2024: It describes a non-RNA glycoconjugate persisted throughout RNA sample processing, with similar electrophoretic properties and enzymatic reactivity as glycoRNA. It confounds gel-/blot-based glycoRNA assays. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

RNA-Associated Glycoconjugates Highlight Potential Ambiguities in glycoRNA Analysis

A recent ground-breaking study suggested that small RNA from mammalian cells can undergo N-glycan modifications (termed glycoRNA) 1. The discovery relied upon a metabolic glycan labeling strategy in c...

biorxiv.org

Nanopore technology might be able to sequence proteins soon! Read about the road ahead in this exciting Perspective rdcu.be/edWPi in @naturebiotech.bsky.social

Toward single-molecule protein sequencing using nanopores

Nature Biotechnology - Maglia and colleagues discuss advances in nanopore technology en route to single-molecule protein sequencing

rdcu.be

We're just completing an R&D sprint to identify an LC additive that increases our glycan identifications 3x and enhances glycan charge states by up to 45%🚀. It's too early to publicly disclose its identity, but here's a results preview. Interested? Message or email us, we'd love to collaborate.

Excited to share our new preprint on co-transcriptional splicing! U1 snRNP is recruited to RNA polymerase II through multiple interaction sites, with elongation factor SPT6 binding directly to the U1 snRNP protein. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #cryoEM #transcription #splicing

Excited to share an update on heparan sulfate (HS)-associated cell-surface RNA (hepRNA): www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Cell-Surface RNA Forms Ternary Complex with RNA-Binding Proteins and Heparan Sulfate to Recruit Immune Receptors

Recent discoveries have shown the presence of RNA molecules on the cell surface, defying the traditional view that RNA only functions intracellularly. However, it is not well understood how cell-surfa...

biorxiv.org

Transcriptome-wide Identification of GlycoRNAs by Clier-seq Pipeline https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.28.639800v1

Proteins are a source of glycans found in preparations of glycoRNA https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.17.643711v1

Hello, Bluesky community! Let our first post be a good news: CBDD researchers Geert-Jan Boons and Rob de Vries (@rpdevrieslab.bsky.social), together with researchers in ErasmusMC Rotterdam, were awarded an #ENW-XL from the Dutch Research Council. Stay tuned for #phd/#post-doc openings! #glycotime