🎉 We are excellent The #UniCologne has succeeded with its proposal “Neue Universität: Continuous Change – Successful Renewal” and has been awarded the status of a ‘University of Excellence’ as part of the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments ➡️uni.koeln/SWUK7

We’re looking for a new colleague in Cologne! A permanent 75% position coordinating and developing our Biochemistry teaching - with plenty of opportunity to teach and shape the curriculum. Must be able to teach in German 🇩🇪 Please share! jobs-uk-koeln.onlyfy.jobs/de/job/ztehy...

Our new preprint is out! We show that the intramembrane protease RHBDL4 targets multiple cargo receptor families, linking proteolytic remodeling of cargo receptor networks to the regulation of secretory pathway flux. Great work led by Susi Steigleder, @jnuechel.bsky.social and the team!

bioRxiv Cell Biology@biorxiv-cellbio.bsky.social · last mo.

Proteolytic Remodeling of Cargo Receptor Networks by RHBDL4 Tunes Secretory Pathway Flux https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.25.746970v1

Very happy to share that our work on the RQC-mediated degradation of CFTR is now published @embojournal.org! Interested in finding out what determines translation arrest during multipass membrane protein synthesis? Check it out 👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Principles of ribosome-associated protein quality control during the synthesis of CFTR - The EMBO Journal

Prolonged translational arrests caused by defective mRNAs activate the ribosome-associated protein quality control (RQC) pathway, which marks harmful incomplete proteins for degradation. Multipass tra...

link.springer.com

🎉 Congratulations to Susanne Steigleder on her first-author publication in JCS! The study identifies a TMED9/GRASP65-dependent Golgi-bypass pathway for proTGFα, revealing new insights into unconventional protein secretion. Congratulations to the entire team! 👏 journals.biologists.com/jcs/article-...

Ina @inahuppertz.bsky.social and Kathrin @katleppek.bsky.social cordially invite all RNA enthusiasts based in the Rhineland region to attend our series of inspiring in-person talks on RNA-related topics by local and invited speakers. This time on Monday July 13th in the DZNE auditorium in Bonn.

Finally out in @Cellcellpress! Proteins with long IDRs are prone to misfolding during protein synthesis. This is prevented by mRNA 3′UTRs that act as mRNA-based IDR chaperones. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

mRNA 3′ UTRs chaperone intrinsically disordered regions to control protein activity

Highly conserved mRNA 3′ UTRs act as co-translational chaperones for intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), preventing inter-domain misfolding and enabling biogenesis of fully active proteins.

cell.com

Join scientists working on #ProteinHomeostasis in the EMBO Workshop "Proteostasis shaping health span: From protein folding to failure" in #Ericeira, #Portugal, 9–13 November 2026. Deadline: 1 September 2026 https://meetings.embo.org/event/26-proteostasis #EMBOproteostasis #EMBOevents 🧪

We had a fantastic time at the Rhineland RNA Club meeting—great talks and exciting new insights into RNA biology. Don’t miss out on the upcoming events!

Kathrin Leppek@katleppek.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Friday 27th March, we had a great 11th Rhineland RNA Club meeting @mpiage.bsky.social with inspiring PhD, postdoc and invited speakers. It's great to see how the community covers a range of topics of all corners of RNA science. Special thanks to @mschosserer.bsky.social & @trentini-lab.bsky.social

👩‍🔬 Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Meet Romy Baier, PhD student in the @trentini-lab.bsky.social at the @unicologne.bsky.social

Very happy to share our new preprint on #Golgi #PQC Very grateful to be working at the @hellerschmiedlab.bsky.social and with all the co-authors and colleagues. Special thanks to Sofia- without her, this story wouldn't have #unfolded as it did @unidue-zmb.bsky.social @imprs-lm.bsky.social

bioRxiv Cell Biology@biorxiv-cellbio.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Selective proteasomal degradation from the Golgi apparatus membrane https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.04.703791v1

We had a fantastic time at the Ribo-Seq workshop in Bonn. Thanks so much, Kathrin @katleppek.bsky.social and Ranen, for organizing! We learned a lot, and we're excited to use Ribo-Seq in future projects.

Kathrin Leppek@katleppek.bsky.social · 11mo ago

We are well into our 5-day Cluster Workshop on Ribosome Profiling (Ribo-seq) run by sabbatical scientist Ranen Aviner @czbiohub.bsky.social. We welcome PhDs and PIs from Bonn/Cologne for a hands-on and analysis course sponsored by the Cluster @immunosens.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social UKB.

We would like to invite all Rhineland RNA enthusiasts to attend our next series of in-person talks, featuring local and invited speakers. Highlights include the external talks by Didier Stainier, Simon Bekker-Jensen and Ranen Aviner. Please, register: tinyurl.com/RhinelandRNA

⏰🔬⏳What if we could prevent age-related diseases before they even start? At #CECAD Cologne, that’s exactly our #mission! In this new video, Prof. Dr. Carien Niessen shares our vision uncovering the biology of #aging to improve #health. #HealthyAging @unicologne.bsky.social youtu.be/9ALNLpG3oYc

CECAD: Our Scientific Mission

YouTube video by CECAD Cologne

youtu.be

🚨 Speaker Alert! 🚨 We’re thrilled to announce the next #CRC1678 Seminar featuring @christinemayr.bsky.social ! Join us to dive into the fascinating role of mRNA 3′UTRs in chaperoning intrinsically disordered regions to regulate protein activity. 📅 September 16 📍 CECAD Lecture Hall ⏰ 2:00 PM

I supervise an excellent postdoc who's looking for a postdoc or associate position in < 1 yr. Highly skilled in chem biol and biochem (peptide synthesis, native chem ligation, bacterial expression, purification, intein-based splicing, crystallography, interaction assays). Contact me if interested.

🚨Check out this brand new publication from the lab of our CRC 1678 project leader @thevilchezlab.bsky.social about how C9orf72 ALS‐causing mutations lead to mislocalization and aggregation of nucleoporin Nup107 into stress granules! Congrationlations to this achievement!🥳

David Vilchez@thevilchezlab.bsky.social · last yr.

New work from the lab! C9orf72 ALS‐causing mutations lead to mislocalization and aggregation of nucleoporin Nup107 into stress granules - Bilican - FEBS Letters - Wiley Online Library febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🎉 We’re excited to share our very first preprint!! 🎉 "Metabolic Crossroads: AMDHD2 Couples the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway to Acetyl-CoA Homeostasis in Pluripotent Stem Cells" 👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025... #FirstPreprint #StemCells #Metabolism #Epigenetics #AcetylCoA #HBP #Pluripotency #NewScience

Metabolic Crossroads: AMDHD2 Couples the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway to Acetyl-CoA Homeostasis in Pluripotent Stem Cells

Pluripotent stem cells (SCs) rely on metabolic rewiring to regulate self-renewal and differentiation. The hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) integrates multiple metabolic inputs to produce uridine ...

doi.org

🚨 Happy to share our first pre-print 🎉 on the causes of ribosome-associated degradation of CFTR and other transmembrane proteins. We explore how protein folding, ER insertion, and elongation dynamics influence translation arrests in this new class of RQC targets.👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Principles of ribosome-associated protein quality control during the synthesis of CFTR

Prolonged translational arrests caused by defective mRNAs activate the ribosome-associated protein quality control (RQC) pathway, which marks harmful incomplete proteins for degradation. Multipass tra...

biorxiv.org

Very happy to see our contribution to a better understanding of Hsp70/90 #chaperones online! Congrats and a big thank you to all co-authors, collaborators and reviewers! #proteostasis @poepsel-lab.bsky.social @crc1430.bsky.social @unidue-zmb.bsky.social

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology@natsmb.nature.com · last yr.

New online: Conformational plasticity of a BiP–GRP94 chaperone complex

Today marks the first day of our very first CRC 1678 Early Career Researcher Retreat! We’re proud to have such an amazing group of scientists with us—full of curiosity, energy, and team spirit. 💥🧠 🥳💪 #CRC1678 #ECRetreat #ScienceCommunity

Freshly launched! 🚀 Check out the new CRC 1678 website 🌐 👉 crc1678.uni-koeln.de

New from our lab @crick.ac.uk, in collaboration with the Enchev and Bukau labs. By studying a protein that is difficult to fold, we discover fascinating new mechanisms by which the ribosome supports protein biogenesis. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congratulations to PhD student Tom Eisenack for winning a poster prize at the #ubfriends2025 symposium! Many thanks to the organizers for putting together such a fantastic meeting!

SFB Targeted Protein Degradation@sfb-tpd-vienna.bsky.social · last yr.

...AND THE #ubfriends2025 WINNERS ARE 👏 Best Short Talk: @leokiss.bsky.social (@mpibiochem.bsky.social) Best Posters: Irene Schwartz (lab of @versteegga.bsky.social), @julianvangerwen.bsky.social (@imsb-eth.bsky.social), Tom Eisenack (lab @trentini-lab.bsky.social), and @berndbauer.bsky.social!

This week, the @crc1678 kick-off retreat brought all the project leaders together! 🚀 A fantastic opportunity to dive into projects, spark collaborations, and lay the groundwork for an exciting journey ahead. On our way to innovation, teamwork and impactful discoveries! 💡👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬 #Research #Collaboration