Alessandro Scacchetti
@metalsga.bsky.social
Postdoc, Bonasio lab @ University of Pennsylvania. Former PhD student, Becker lab @ LMU Munich. Epigenetics & exotic RNAs.
One of the most convincing pieces of evidence of mammalian inter-organ RNA communication! Worth reading! www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Brown fat-specific RNA labelling reveals a network of inter-organ communication by secreted microRNAs - Nature Metabolism
This study uses in vivo, 4TU-based, tissue-specific miRNA labelling to highlight the endocrine role of BAT-derived miRNAs that are taken up by tissues like the muscle, liver and hypothalamus, and demo...
nature.com
Our preprint made the “1%” of QED’s preprint ranking system (the-one-percent.qedscience.com). i.e.: AI read our manuscript and decided it doesn’t suck ;) QED tried something new and radical to “filter” scientific content, so it’s inevitably going to be imperfect and controversial. That’s ok.
Seeking a post-doc for the LaJoie lab at the Human Technopole, Milan, Italy! We are looking for candidates from the fields of biochemistry, cell biology, and proteomics, who are interested in studying protein interactions of the nucleus 🤓 lnkd.in/dTG2CgXF
1/🧵 Can transcription factor condensate formation be explained without phase separation? Our new preprint introduces SPARK, a simulation tool that reproduces condensate behavior (clustering, fusion, FRAP) from diffusion & binding kinetics alone. Movie: 60 sec FRAP sim www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
In this episode we talked with Peter Becker from the @bmc-lmu.bsky.social about his successful career in Epigenetics, where he discovered the chromatin remodeler ISWI and dosage compensation complex MOF. #podcast #epigenetics Listen here: www.activemotif.com/podcasts-pet...
We are over the moon! 🎈 Dr. Marieke Oudelaar joins the MPI-IE as a new #MaxPlanck Director, heading the newly established Department of Genome Biology She studies how the 3D folding of DNA controls gene expression – more details below ⬇️ Welcome to #Freiburg, @mariekeoudelaar.bsky.social!
Marieke Oudelaar becomes new Director at MPI-IE in Freiburg
ie-freiburg.mpg.de
Yet another beautiful example of host-pathogen RNA communication. Fantastic work! Reminder to myself: READ MORE PLANT PAPERS! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A pathogen lncRNA secreted into rice sequesters a host miRNA for virulence - Nature
A fungal long non-coding RNA from Magnaporthe oryzae translocates into rice cells to sequester a host microRNA that normally represses PKR1, a negative immunity regulator, thereby facilitating in...
nature.com
P2 in Canada!! 🔥 What a drive Lewis Hamilton!! 🏆
We are looking for a new colleague to join us in Galway. The position is in Biochemistry and if research focus lines up we hope the successful person will join us in the Centre for Chromosome biology (chromosome.ie). Reach out if you are interested in applying! tinyurl.com/2jy4rj3r
Did you know that Pierre Chambon's laboratory was the first to use the term "nucleosome" in 1975 ? www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Hey, wouldja look at that! An incredible one man show from Pablo Bora, an amazing postdoc...we used Steven Floor's beautiful REMORA approach (fusing RNA base editors to RBPs, allowing RBP cargo to be identified by edits) to explore RBP-RNA binding in mouse embryos doi: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Probing RNA-protein interactions in the early mouse embryo
The union of two germ cells to form a zygote, and subsequent early embryo development, are marked by radical remodeling of virtually every major class of biomolecules as the specialized germline states give way to the rapid and active growth that marks early development. In recent years, advances in ultra-low input genome-wide methods have enabled systematic analyses of mRNA abundance, and of chromatin organization, throughout early development in a variety of model systems. Here, we extend these efforts to the study of RNA binding protein (RBP) function in early mouse embryos, adapting REMORA 1 -- based on fusing an RNA-editing enzyme to an RBP of interest -- for use in early embryos. We benchmark our approach for several well-studied RBPs, successfully recovering expected features of their RNA cargos, and assayed the RNA cargos for 17 RBPs of interest for early gene regulation. Analysis of changes in mRNA metabolism following knockdowns of the RBPs surveyed here allowed us to identify direct regulatory functions for a subset of RBPs in the early mammalian embryo, including an unanticipated role for the RNA export adaptor Alyref in control of 3 prime polyadenylation sites. Together, our data provide a proof of concept resource for systematically exploring RBP functions in mammalian embryogenesis. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, https://ror.org/04byxyr05, NIHR01HD099816
doi.org
Delighted to share our lab's latest (w/ inimitable @genophoria.bsky.social) in final form at @nature.com. Enormous lift by Sean Wang, @palindromephd.bsky.social & @martyyang.bsky.social to address extensive & constructive reviewer comments & see this through. (1/n) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Pervasive and programmed nucleosome distortion on single chromatin fibres - Nature
An analytical pipeline called Iteratively Defined Lengths of Inaccessibility (IDLI) maps the genome-wide occupancy of a range of nucleosome types and shows that most nucleosomes exhibit programmed ‘di...
nature.com
Excited to share our latest work in Molecular Cell: www.cell.com/molecular-ce... We show that PRC1 condensates exclude SWI/SNF from chromatin, revealing a physical mechanism for how opposing regulators compete to control gene expression. Huge thanks to all collaborators and mentors!
Mutual antagonism between PRC1 condensates and SWI/SNF in chromatin regulation
Niekamp et al. show that biomolecular condensates formed by Polycomb repressive complexes can physically restrict access of the activating remodeler SWI/SNF to chromatin. Establishing this barrier dep...
cell.com
@embo.org workshop "Brain (epi)genome" — what a blast! Amazing science and amazing people. I am so thankful to the organizers for the opportunity to talk about our work. In these challenging times, this meeting was a much-needed reminder of why I love science. #EMBOBrainEpi
#EMBOBrainEpi has come to a close! The EMBO Workshop 'Brain (epi)genome' took a closer look at the brain’s remarkable cellular diversity 🧠 Thank you to our amazing participants, speakers, and organisers! We hope to see you again at the next edition 👋
Our latest work is online. An interesting observation about the contents of vaults in the absence of the key ncRNA vaultRC5. Seems important for memory.Well done Mason! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Dynamic regulation of neuronal vault trafficking and RNA cargo by the noncoding RNA, Vaultrc5
Vaults are large ribonucleoprotein complexes of unknown function. Here, we report that the vault-associated noncoding RNA, Vaultrc5, is highly enriche…
sciencedirect.com
Pro-tip: Before I submit my proposal, I read it again, but after 2 glasses of wine on an empty stomach. Places where it isn't totally clear to you in that state, it not going to be clear to the reviewer. Edit that bit.
Welcome to #EMBOBrainEpi! We're looking forward to discussing new ideas on how the (epi)genome orchestrates brain function over the next few days 🧠
Now published in NAR. Thanks to the editor and reviewers who provided a great review experience which certainly improved the paper. urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...
Epididymal extracellular vesicles harbor and convey mRNA to sperm for transfer to zygotes
Abstract. The epididymis plays a critical role in promoting sperm maturation, including remodeling the sperm RNA payload. While small RNAs have been extens
urldefense.com
Colin Conine@colinconine.bsky.social · 12mo agoNew from the lab led by @natrigg.bsky.social. We started by characterizing mRNA in sperm, EVs, and the epithelium across epididymal transit. This revealed evidence that sperm acquire specific mRNAs through fusion with epididymal EVs, which we further established with in vitro co-incubation assays
This is mind blowing! www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Electromagnetic field-inducible in vivo gene switch for remote spatiotemporal control of gene expression
The EMF-inducible gene switch (Ei) platform provides precise spatiotemporal control of gene expression through Cyb5b-mediated calcium oscillations. This system enables Ei-OSK-driven in vivo rejuvenati...
cell.com
Check out this new preprint from our lab. Kudos to Huizi! Yes, ants are amazing. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
The 8th Epigenetics Meeting is coming — Dec 2–4, 2026, Max Planck Freiburg. 27 top speakers. Chromatin biology, epigenetic regulation, and real conversations. And you☝️!? Registration is open. Don't wait. 👇 🔗 events.ie-freiburg.mpg.de
I’m happy to announce the first US-based international meeting on epigenetic inheritance, taking place July 15–17, 2026. Registration is now open! Join us for an exciting program featuring outstanding speakers and cutting-edge research. Please share and spread the word! #EpigeneticInheritance2026
I am thrilled to announce that the Voss Lab will be opening for business Fall 2026 in the Department of Biology @mtsuofficial.bsky.social! It's been a long journey & I am so happy to finally find my scientific home. 🫀🧬🧪 #newPI #womeninstem #AcademicSky (And yes, we're hiring!)🥼
a woman in a purple scrub top says " yes ! i did it "
Alt: a woman in a purple scrub top says " yes ! i did it "
media.tenor.com
A deep dive without first defining what they mean by #epigenetics. But that's OK, nice thought-provoking ideas. Gedankenexperiment: if you replace the word "epigenetics" throughout with "transcriptional regulation", now how does it look?
Duncan Sproul@sproullab.bsky.social · 4mo agoInteresting looking study. Seems they are certainly aligned with the neutral-rebel/rebel-rebel #epigenetics camp by invoking chromatin accessibility and TF binding as an epigenetic memory 🤔 (image credit: @zchiang.bsky.social)
Join us: Seminar by Alessandro Scacchetti – Tuesday, 31st March at 11:00 am @metalsga.bsky.social @upenn.edu
There has never been a better time to study functional and mechanistic biology at the organismal (!) level than now in the age of AlphaFold and CRISPR.
Science Magazine@science.org · 5mo agoAn analysis of published papers on eight widely studied “model” organisms suggests work on them is fading, but not everyone is worried. https://scim.ag/3PaOvIs
Another amazing piece of work from the Conine lab!
Colin Conine@colinconine.bsky.social · 5mo agoThere is accumulating evidence that sperm miRNAs function to regulate embryonic gene expression and transmit inherited phenotypes to offspring but how does this work since sperm cargo is massively diluted in the egg upon fertilization. Here we directly address this ? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
