Very pleased to announce that my Crick postdoc work has just been published in Nature Communications: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Big thank you to @bpradel.bsky.social, @jaksonluk.bsky.social, @maxgg.bsky.social and the rest of the host-pathogen interactions in TB lab that made it all possible!

Five years ago I started studying a fascinating protein of Salmonella, called SteC.

Salmonella effector kinase SteC is activated by phosphorylation at Serine 379 dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Salmonella effector kinase SteC is activated by phosphorylation at Serine 379

Author summary Salmonella is a bacterium that causes a wide range of human diseases, from gastroenteritis to systemic infection. Blood stream infections are more common in young children or those who ...

dx.plos.org

tracking a single-cell mycobacterium tuberculosis infection across time

📯 Our paper “VPS13C/PARK23 initiates lipid transfer and membrane remodeling for efficient lysosomal repair” out now in Nature Communications rdcu.be/frKmN

VPS13C/PARK23 initiates lipid transfer and membrane remodeling for efficient lysosomal repair

Nature Communications - Not all components of the lysosome damage response pathway have been defined. Here, the authors discover that the bridge-like lipid transport protein VPS13C senses lysosomal...

rdcu.be

Recruiting a postdoc to join my lab at @lshtm.bsky.social to work in an MRC porgramme grant funded project to dissect the gut colonziation by Klebsiella. In vivo and in vitro models, and new approaches to identify Klebsiella factors involved. jobs.lshtm.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

Job Opportunity at LSHTM: Research Fellow

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is one of the world’s leading public health universities. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working i...

jobs.lshtm.ac.uk

Great collaboration with @adrianisaacs.bsky.social showing coordinated role for FTD/ALS proteins CHMP2B and ANXA11 in membrane repair! Well done Catherine Heffner, Georgina Starling, Lorian Cobra Straker and Pippa Hawes! @crick.ac.uk, @ukdri.ac.uk, @kingslsm.bsky.social. www.cell.com/developmenta...

The ALS- and FTD-associated proteins annexin A11 and CHMP2B act sequentially in plasma membrane repair

Heffner et al. show that ANXA11 and CHMP2B, proteins encoded by ALS- and FTD-risk genes, are sequentially recruited to sites of plasma membrane damage. Membrane repair involves ANXA11-positive plug fo...

cell.com

Check out our latest T7SS toxin story. These reverse toxins aren’t as rare as we thought!

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · last mo.

A novel reverse lipase toxin substrate of the Staphylococcus aureus type VII secretion system https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.22.733114v1

How does a cell remodel the ER membrane into a lipid droplet? Excited to share our new bioRxiv preprint, where we find that regulated opening of the seipin ring defines a functional ER–lipid droplet interface — and identify SMLR1 as a regulator of this transition. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our image competition with #ELMI2026 could hardly be closer with just 3 votes separating the top 2 images, with three others close behind. If you haven’t voted yet, you have until 23:59 BST tonight (18 June) to register your vote! focalplane.biologists.com/2026/06/08/f...

FocalPlane x ELMI2026 image competition: vote for your favourite - FocalPlane

FocalPlane x ELMI2026 image competition: vote for your favourite - News

focalplane.biologists.com

I'm incredibly proud to share our paper on the preclinical evaluation of the BNT164 mRNA tuberculosis vaccine candidates. Now online in the final version at Nature Immunology. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

mRNA-based tuberculosis vaccines BNT164a1 and BNT164b1 are immunogenic, well tolerated and efficacious in rodent models - Nature Immunology

Here the authors characterize mRNA-based tuberculosis vaccine candidates BNT164a1 and BNT164b1 and show that they are immunogenic, well tolerated and efficacious in preclinical animal models.

nature.com

BacPROTACs outperform inhibitors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.12.731830v1

One week left to apply. Help us find new antimicrobials and understand the inner workings of bacteria – as a technical assistant in the Machine Biophotonics and Nanoscale Bacteriology labs at the Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum, University of Würzburg – See details below (in German). Please spread the word.

Very excited this work by Victor and Jakson @crick.ac.uk is out!! started many years ago with @jvaubourgeix.bsky.social They generated Mtb-Timer, a fluorescent reporter in Mtb as a proxy for Mtb replication and measure antibiotic responses Mtbhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.01796-25

Mtb-Timer: a fluorescent reporter to visualize Mycobacterium tuberculosis replication and antibiotic responses | mSystems

Tuberculosis treatment is challenging in part because Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) populations are phenotypically heterogeneous. Within the same infection, bacterial cells can exist in different physiological states, from actively replicating to slow-growing or non-replicating forms. To better study these processes, we developed and validated Mtb-Timer, a fluorescent reporter that enables visualization of bacterial growth dynamics. The system is based on a fluorescent protein that changes color over time: newly synthesized protein emits green fluorescence (GFP) and gradually shifts to red (DsRed) as it matures. The green-to-red fluorescence ratio, therefore, reflects bacterial replication activity. Using microscopy and flow cytometry in both in vitro cultures and infected macrophages (in cellulo), Mtb-Timer enables the quantification of distinct bacterial subpopulations and the real-time monitoring of the green-to-red fluorescence ratio and bacterial burden during treatment with first-line antibiotics.

journals.asm.org

The weekend is coming - use it to plan a trip to Belfast for the 2026 UK Cellular Microbiology Meeting! Submit an abstract until 12th of May! Great opportunity for early career researchers! www.ukcellmicro.org

UK Cellular Microbiology@ukcellmicro.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Registration and abstract submission for the 2026 UK CellularMicrobiologyNetwork Meeting are now open! Exiting keynote speakers and opportunity for researchers from the UK, Ireland and beyond to share their work on host-pathogen interactions. June 22nd/23rd @WWIEM in Belfast. www.ukcellmicro.org

Nice demonstration by @maxgg.bsky.social et al that some, but not all, non tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) intracellular growth in macrophages is pH sensitive #TBSky #immunosky onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Acidic pH Restricts Non‐Tuberculous Mycobacteria Replication

Different nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species display unique replication profiles in acidic pH in vitro which correlates to their replication within human macrophages. Inhibition of the acidic ....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Really important and relevant study in TB from @danbarberphd.bsky.social and colleagues. We need to re-think many assumptions. Nitric oxide production in mice has been a confounding factor. #tuberculosis

Daniel L. Barber, PhD@danbarberphd.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So we blocked IFNγ in Mtb infected macaques and….the animals were fine. Turns out mice overestimate the importance of IFNγ in TB because IFNγ drives iNOS in mice but not macaques or humans. This means we don’t actually know how T cells suppress Mtb. rdcu.be/ff9GB #tuberculosis #immunology

The 2026 UK Cellular Microbiology Network Meeting is approaching fast! Submit an abstract until May, 12th and join us June, 22nd/23rd in Belfast! Exiting keynote speakers and opportunities for early career researchers from the UK, Ireland and beyond to share their work. www.ukcellmicro.org

Was just asked to spread the word about this position. Structural biology and Chemical Biology positions in Barcelona, one of the great cities of the world! www.irbbarcelona.org/sites/defaul...

The time has come for big changes to research funding. New piece by RoRI’s Peter Kolarz on why incremental fixes may no longer be enough: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

In this systematic review & meta-analysis, Mortazavi & colleagues (@petermacp.bsky.social) investigate urban vs rural differences in #TB prevalence between 2000 and 2024 in 26 low- and middle-income countries, finding that TB epidemics have become increasingly urbanized 🧪 #MedSky plos.io/3O79BqY

Urban and rural prevalence of tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

In a systematic review and meta-analysis, Seyed Alireza Mortazavi and colleagues investigate urban versus rural differences in adult pulmonary tuberculosis prevalence between 2000 and 2024 in 26 low- ...

plos.io

We are looking for an experienced light microscopy specialist, motivated to support our users in the Advanced Light Microscopy Facility at EMBL Heidelberg. embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j... -closing date 11 May 2026 @eurobioimaging.bsky.social @globalbioimaging.bsky.social

embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

💥Our latest @embojournal.org on membrane damage and repair. Di @dichen02.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk found that calcium is a conserved signal for ATG8/LC3 lipidation on membranes using novel probes to record calcium leakage. Congratulations Di et al! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ca²⁺ leakage is a conserved signal for non-canonical ATG8/LC3 lipidation and membrane repair - The EMBO Journal

Endomembrane damage of intracellular vesicles triggers signals that activate membrane repair in mammalian cells to restore homeostasis. However, the signals that drive diverse membrane repair recruitm...

link.springer.com

‼️ A really good meeting for people working on host-pathogen interactions! Great keynote speakers this year: Raphael Valdivia and Florence Niedergang. Please repost!

UK Cellular Microbiology@ukcellmicro.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Registration and abstract submission for the 2026 UK CellularMicrobiologyNetwork Meeting are now open! Exiting keynote speakers and opportunity for researchers from the UK, Ireland and beyond to share their work on host-pathogen interactions. June 22nd/23rd @WWIEM in Belfast. www.ukcellmicro.org

Now this is the future of TB research 👏 39 Keystone Symposia & @gatesfoundation.bsky.social scholarship awardees at #KSTB26. With ~1.5M TB deaths each year, these early-career scientists are driving progress through collaboration and new ideas. @maxgg.bsky.social @breealdridge.bsky.social

All currently approved antibiotics inhibit essential cellular processes. Ever wonder if we could kill bacteria using the opposite strategy? Here, we demonstrate an alternative antibacterial strategy: lethality through pathway over-activation. www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1 out of 3)

We know how to end TB. What’s missing is the will to change the systems that keep it spreading. Ahead of #WorldTBDay, SAO is highlighting an overlooked TB risk, the international monkey trade, & why human‑centered research is a better (safer) path forward. 🔗 www.linkedin.com/pulse/yes-we...

Yes! We Can End TB! Lead by Policy! Powered by Human-Relevant Science!

"We know how to live in a world without tuberculosis. But we choose not to live in that world.

linkedin.com

“Measures to strengthen international biosafety and biosecurity practices” There is an absolute necessity for research on ‘pandemic-prone pathogens’. Studies must, however, be conducted responsibly & according to strict principles of safety & security This outlines steps for global accountability

PLOS Biology@plosbiology.org · 5mo ago

What concrete steps can we take to reinforce #biorisk management? In this Perspective, an international group of experts advocate for better global standards for #pathogen research. 🧪 #MicroSky #DURC plos.io/3NN7451

New lab preprint! @zestytoast.bsky.social tagged a scarce mycobacterial protein in M. smegmatis with TwinStep but got… something? @kjamali.bsky.social's ModelAngelo built models & @martinsteinegger.bsky.social's FoldSeek IDed them as the biotin-containing MCC & LCC complexes 🧵 tinyurl.com/ukny4ptz

Very excited to share our recently published work on NTM and their response to acid stress! As my first paper, I’m especially grateful for the support and guidance from @luizcarvalholab.bsky.social , Rachel and @maxgg.bsky.social . More to come!

Max Gutierrez@maxgg.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Very happy to see this out! Great work by @lockwop.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk and first paper on NTMs from the lab! Parise made a set of 12 fluorescently labelled NTMs covering environmental and opportunistic mycobacteria... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...