Noga’s brain child hits (pre)print! A very neat story at the confluence of viruses, RNP granules, and warnings about assuming beta coronaviruses all play by the same rules…

Noga Sharlin@nogasharlin.bsky.social · 3w ago

Excited to have this preprint out showing that N proteins of human coronaviruses differ in their ability to inhibit antiviral responses! Many thanks to my supervisor Jennifer Corcoran @corcoranlab.bsky.social, as well as to co-authors @rorymulloy.bsky.social and Madeline Day for all their support!

Less private jets, more water bombers

A lovely paper out of the Locker lab from Dr. Marques! Picornaviruses really hate G3BP1. Methodical breakdown of the antiviral role of RNA granules vs granule proteins, not an easy thing to do. Worth reading for the stunning microscopy alone! Congrats

Mariana Marques@viralmarq.bsky.social · 3w ago

It's out! 🎉 Excited to share our latest paper in @plos.org Pathogens! We set out to understand the role of #StressGranules in the #antiviral response against #RNAviruses, using #FMDV as our model. Here's what we found: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

It's out! 🎉 Excited to share our latest paper in @plos.org Pathogens! We set out to understand the role of #StressGranules in the #antiviral response against #RNAviruses, using #FMDV as our model. Here's what we found: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

The assembly of stress granules during foot-and-mouth disease virus infection is uncoupled from activation of cellular intrinsic antiviral signalling

Author summary Biomolecular condensates, including stress granules, are key regulatory compartments that control fundamental cellular processes. By condensing RNAs and proteins, these structures enabl...

dx.plos.org

Super-resolution atlas of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals protease-dependent organelle maturation, dsRNA landscapes, and intracellular structural proteins www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We are pleased to be a media partner for the @embo.org @embl.org Symposium: The complex life of RNA Abstract submission: 7 Jul 2026 Registration (On-site): 1 Sep 2026 Registration (Virtual): 6 Oct 2026 bit.ly/4qpp83e #EESRNA @events.embl.org

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Alex de Mendoza@alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Capolavoro 🎨 alert 🚨! What is the role of gene body methylation in invertebrates? Despite extensive speculation linking it to plasticity and environmental responses, its mechanistic effects and heritability remain unclear. Our take out in @natecoevo.nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/

Today the first recovered patient was released from an Ebola treatment unit in the DRC after two negative tests. Because so much of the Ebola news is so dark and filled with despair I want to make sure I am intentional about sharing the wins. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

First patient recovers from Ebola but WHO warns of 'huge' death rate | The National

Nine cases confirmed in Uganda after virus spread in central Africa

thenationalnews.com

Wrote a short piece on Transposable Elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation for a forthcoming special issue of @naturerevgenet.bsky.social on, duh, Evolutionary Innovation! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Transposable elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation - Nature Reviews Genetics

In this Comment, Cedric Feschotte highlights evidence from diverse lineages showing that transposable elements are key drivers of evolutionary innovation, repeatedly introducing regulatory and coding ...

nature.com

🚨 1/5 Check out the 2nd preprint from our lab on how IRES-mediated translation of synthetic circRNAs is employed in cells and in cell-free translation extracts, a highly collaborative effort with @immagina.bsky.social & the labs of @andershlund.bsky.social and CK Chen www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Really neat paper suggesting that STING helps nucleate stress granules near the ER. This beautifully and physically highlights the integration of classical antiviral pathways and RNP granules www.nature.com/articles/s41...

STING is the scaffold protein for stress granule pre-condensation at the ER - Cell Death & Differentiation

Cell Death & Differentiation - STING is the scaffold protein for stress granule pre-condensation at the ER

nature.com

An engineered viral RNA degrader on mitochondrial surface that mitigates RNA virus infection @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We should all think twice before providing personal feedback on scientific presentations. For example, criticizing an accent is pointless. If you had difficulty understanding a presentation, suggest that the speaker slow down; don't point out their origin.

So how do mRNAs get localised at specific areas of the cell if there are no unifying sequence or structural patterns? Work from the labs of @simonbullock11.bsky.social @carter-lab.bsky.social @natsmb.nature.com provides insightful answers to this longstanding question. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Structural basis for recognition of diverse localizing mRNAs by Egl–BicD - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

Singh et al. combine cryo-electron microscopy and functional studies to reveal how a single protein complex selects diverse mRNAs for subcellular localization using a combination of shape, positional ...

nature.com

Retrovirus insertions in host transcripts trigger de novo piRNA immunity: Kirsten-André Senti, @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social et al investigate the 20th-century invasion of D. melanogaster by iERV Tirant to reveal piRNA-pathway evolution in response to new threats link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Retrovirus insertions in host transcripts trigger de novo piRNA immunity - The EMBO Journal

How host organisms adapt their defense systems to newly invading transposable elements remains poorly understood. Here, we show how Drosophila melanogaster acquired PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA)-mediat...

link.springer.com

SUPER COOL to have my recent paper highlighted by CoV transcription legends, Drs Isabel Sola & Sonia Zuñiga in a PLoS Bio Primer. A much better read than the AI summary of the paper 💥 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

New transcription signals in SARS-CoV-2 reshape virus–host interactions

Non-spike changes driving SARS-CoV-2 fitness remain undiscovered. This Primer comments on two PLOS Biology papers that show that evolutionary N gene mutations create a transcription-regulating sequenc...

journals.plos.org

Very cool to finally be able to see what is going in with SARS-CoV-2/sarbecoviruses in horseshoe bats!

bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Experimental SARS-CoV-2 infection using horseshoe bats https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.19.712934v1

I did some research to try and figure out when my death date would be if there had been no treatment for my cancer. I don't know why I assumed it would be some date in the future, but, in fact, I passed the middle of the "no treatment survival" bell curve more than a year ago. Thanks chemo.

Proud of Louisa Iselin. Not the easiest PhD, covid, two supervisors (shabazlab.bsky.social) moving labs, but she pushed through and delivered a really solid piece of work on how interferon reshapes RNA-protein interactions post-translationally www.cell.com/cell-reports...

RNA binding as an emerging regulatory dimension in the type I IFN response

Iselin et al. explore how the type I IFN response regulates RNA-binding activity using RNA-interactome capture and extend the RIC protocol to assess the role of phosphorylation in this process. Focusi...

cell.com

💥 Paper published 💥 Curious how #SARS2 has changed since jumping into humans? We were too! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... 🧵 🧵 🧵

Evolution of a truncated nucleocapsid protein enhances SARS-CoV-2 fitness by suppressing antiviral responses

SARS-CoV-2 has evolved to optimize its replication fitness in the human host. This study shows that a nucleocapsid gene mutation enhances production of a truncated protein that boosts viral fitness in...

journals.plos.org

Despite decades of intensive research, current approaches to treating #NeurodegenerativeDiseases only slow down the seemingly inevitable. Could recent data associating #vaccines with reduced risk of #dementia offer an unexpected beacon of hope?🧪 @sparrerlab.bsky.social

Could targeting viruses be a new hope against neurodegenerative diseases?

Current therapies for neurodegenerative diseases largely manage symptoms and only modestly slow progression. This Perspective highlights emerging evidence that vaccines and antivirals may lower…

plos.io

Endogenous retroviruses synthesize heterologous chimeric RNAs to reinforce human early embryo development www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Endogenous retroviruses synthesize heterologous chimeric RNAs to reinforce human early embryo development

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) failure leads to developmental arrest and poses a clinical challenge to women’s fertility. We observed that human embryos arresting at the eight-cell ZGA stage exhibite...

science.org

RIP Catherine O'Hara, I have never not laughed at this

Schitt's Creek - Moira laughs without moving her mouth

YouTube video by Raremedia

youtube.com

This one might be even better @barrlab.bsky.social

Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Although using AI for science writing is spooky, I feel like now I’m allowed to write with more pizzazz (just to show im human)

Writing is thinking "On the value of human-generated scientific writing in the age of large-language models." www.nature.com/articles/s44...

#Virology Herpesviruses exploit a cellular membrane protein, once thought to transport chloride, to escape the nucleus by tapping into an ancient membrane fusion process

ER protein CLCC1 promotes nuclear envelope fusion in herpesviral and host processes - Nature Communications

Herpesvirales utilize a unique nuclear egress route for capsid export. Here the authors show that herpesviruses exploit a cellular membrane protein, once thought to transport chloride, to facilitate membrane fusion and egress from the nucleus.

dlvr.it

Review @natrevimmunol.nature.com @martint-babraham.bsky.social @babrahaminst.bsky.social RNA-binding proteins and ribonucleoproteins as determinants of immunity www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our new paper is out in Nature 🎉. We show that m1Ψ in mRNA vaccines doesn’t just quiet immunity, it also directly enhance translation by reshaping ribosome dynamics in a sequence-dependent way 🧬 Full paper : rdcu.be/eY5gx

N1-Methylpseudouridine directly modulates translation dynamics

Nature - N1-Methylpseudouridine enhances the translation of synthetic mRNAs, independently of innate immunity.

rdcu.be