Sascha Martens
@martenslab.bsky.social
Biochemist and cell biologist working on autophagy at the Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna
Read our latest testimonial from @gzaffagnini.bsky.social from the @unicologne.bsky.social. He has been curating his report on cell biology of #oocytes since June 2024 and recently released his 100th issue. You can subscribe to his report by going to biomed.news/bims-cebooc
Please check out our new preprint! We find an unexpected role for #CASM in regulating p62 mediated activation of the KEAP1/NRF2 pathway to initiate a cytoprotective antioxidant transcriptional response. More functions for #CASM in responding to lysosome stress. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/2
CASM regulates p62/KEAP1/NRF2 antioxidant responses to lysosome damage
Effective lysosome function is essential for health, and declines with ageing and disease. Upon lysosome damage, cells mount a complex stress response to restore homeostasis. Membrane ATG8ylation play...
biorxiv.org
First ERC Synergy meeting with @martenslab.bsky.social and @jimhurley.bsky.social in Vienna, great start! Thanks Sascha for hosting 🙏 @erc.europa.eu
There is so much inspiring work going on in the Kraft and Martens labs. It was wonderful spending time with and getting to know the talented students and postdocs in your groups.
Take a look at this new paper in @science.org Reversible suppression of autophagy in a mouse model reveals neuronal resilience | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reversible suppression of autophagy in a mouse model reveals neuronal resilience
Impairments in intracellular quality-control mechanisms, including autophagy, affect neuronal integrity and function. Despite numerous studies aimed at slowing neuronal deterioration, it remains uncle...
science.org
Structural Mechanism and Cellular Restriction of Tau Seeding from Endolysosomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.08.731026v1
The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)
TL;DR: We've identified more than 100 cases of apparent manipulation in Thermo Fisher Scientific's antibody verification data. @sholtodavid.bsky.social @johanduchene.bsky.social reeserichardson.blog/2026/05/28/h...
How much of Thermo Fisher’s antibody data has been manipulated?
We’ve documented more than 100 instances of apparent data manipulation in Thermo’s catalog
reeserichardson.blog
New study published in Science! Led by @thevirusmc.bsky.social and @plantophagy.bsky.social, former group leader at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social, the researchers set out to understand how autophagy – the cell’s clean-up and recycling system – mediates plant immune response to viral infection.
We hope this work SPARKs your curiosity (and your feedback)! ✨ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
@johanduchene.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social Spent the last hour looking, found ten more apparently manipulated Western blots in Thermo Fisher's antibody verification data (across eight different catalogued products). Thread below. www.thermofisher.com/antibody/pro...
A new preprint from the lab showing how Atg1 regulates the BLTP Atg2. This study was spearheaded by Sonja Achleitner and Susanna Tulli, involving a fantastic collaboration with @ainaraclaveras.bsky.social and Gerhard Hummer. @maxperutzlabs.ac.at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social @maxplanck.bsky.social
biorxiv.org
🚨 Paper Alert! In this new work published in @jcellsci.bsky.social we shift our focus on MTFR1L and the feedback loop linking mitochondrial fission, mitophagy and apoptosis. MTFR1L emerges as a critical coordinator of the fission and autophagy machinery. 🔗Find the paper here: doi.org/10.1242/jcs....
Exciting job offer: PhD Program Manager. Lead recruitment, support PhD candidates, and shape doctoral training at a top international life sciences campus. https://ow.ly/3YkN50YAuGM Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Max Perutz Labs Vienna, IMP, Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology
In this Perspective, North, @doroteaartscience.bsky.social, Shoemaker et al. highlight the rapidly expanding role of LC3-interacting regions in autophagy. rupress.org/jcb/article/... 📕 Part of #Autophagy 2026 👉 rupress.org/jcb/collecti... #GRC
📢 New #preprint from CRN Team Hurley! The team uncovers the mechanism of ATG2A-mediated lipid transport 🧬 Structural modeling and simulations show that N-terminal helices gate lipid transfer, and a designed mutant transfers lipids three times faster in vitro. 🔗 bit.ly/4rHuWpr
📢 New #preprint from CRN Team Hurley! The team uncovers the mechanism of ATG2A-mediated lipid transport 🧪 Structural modeling and simulations show that N-terminal helices gate lipid transfer, and a designed mutant transfers lipids three times faster in vitro. 🔗 bit.ly/3ZVAxw6
Really happy to see this one out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Alibek's drive & great coll w/ friends @gekaragoz.bsky.social & E. Hallacli resulted in a cool story that starts with our beloved #Marchantia and ends with iPSC-derived neurons 🤩🤪 A short 🧵
Why do pathological protein aggregates persist in cells and how can we overcome this? In our new preprint, we show that Tau aggregates fail to initiate selective autophagy and that their autophagic degradation can be restored. #Autophagy #Tau #Proteostasis Out now 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
More: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
From one complex to many: Rethinking the BLOC/BORC system
Two protein complexes that regulate intracellular transport and lysosome positioning were long thought to exist as single, well-defined entities. New structural insights now come from the groups of Da...
imp.ac.at
LLOMe has long been used to study lysosomal damage, yet how it works has remained a mystery. Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure. 🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202... #CryoET
We are excited to share our new preprint which is now available to read on biorXiv: doi.org/10.64898/202... 🎉🎉🎉
If you are interested in #ubiquitin related topics (Who isn’t???) & looking for a friendly and collegial meeting where you can talk to anyone & everyone, this is your meeting!
SFB Targeted Protein Degradation@sfb-tpd-vienna.bsky.social · 7mo agoJoin us for the #Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium 2026, April 29-30, in Vienna! Fantastic guest speakers👇 & many slots for talks from abstracts, flash-talks & posters. Lots of opportunities to network. Register now to save your spot! ➡️ www.protein-degradation.org/symposium/ #ubfriends2026
Join us for the #Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium 2026, April 29-30, in Vienna! Fantastic guest speakers👇 & many slots for talks from abstracts, flash-talks & posters. Lots of opportunities to network. Register now to save your spot! ➡️ www.protein-degradation.org/symposium/ #ubfriends2026
CRN Team Hurley developed AI-directed voxel extraction (AIVE), a segmentation strategy that refines AI-based organelle boundary predictions. Using AIVE, they identified a previously unknown mitochondrial contact termed the mitochondrial intrusion 🧪 🔗 Read the #publication: bit.ly/4qeZiOY
The ATG8 E3-like ligases sense lysosomal damage and initiate ESCRT-mediated membrane repair Dale Corkery, Yao-Wen Wu et al link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The ATG8 E3-like ligases sense lysosomal damage and initiate ESCRT-mediated membrane repair - The EMBO Journal
After damage from pathogenic, chemical or physical stress, endolysosomal membranes are repaired and resealed by the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery, but how this mem...
link.springer.com
⚡️Mitochondria make ATP, the energy that powers life. But in neurons, with axons up to a meter long, how do these tiny power plants stay functional in the right places? We went looking. 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Self-renewal of neuronal mitochondria through asymmetric division
Mitochondrial ATP production is essential for life. Mitochondrial function depends on the spatio-temporal coordination of nuclear and mitochondrial genome expression, yet how this coordination occurs ...
biorxiv.org
Glad to have this finally published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... lots of new data since the #preprint. If you are into selective #autophagy, #evolution, #proteostasis Please have a look!
There are a couple of empty chairs at our table — want to sit with us? Reach out to me or any lab member www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/research... We’ll be hiring two postdocs in 2026. We’re excited about ambitious and creative ideas and are committed to supporting future group leaders 1/2
✨ Passionate about cell biology or biochemistry? Join the Martens Lab as a postdoc to uncover why autophagy stalls at disease-linked protein aggregates - and how to restart it 🧠 Apply here ➡️ tinyurl.com/24dcrcke
