Keren Lasker

Cell Bio 2023-An ASCB|EMBO Meeting Network, learn, and collaborate with top cell biologists from around the globe.

Want to organize a Minisymposium, Workshop, or Special Interest Subgroup?
Now’s your chance to lead at Cell Bio 2026.
🗓 Scientific session proposals due February 22

https://www.ascb.org/cellbio2026/

Thrilled to share our latest work--combining CATCH with whole-body HYBRiD imaging, leveraging click chemistry to visualize and identify drug-targeted cells across organ systems. Led by a brilliant team: former PhD student Ben Pang and former undergrad Verina Leung.

An integrated view of the structure and function of the human 4D nucleome - Nature The 4D Nucleome Project demonstrates the use of genomic assays and computational methods to measure genome folding and then predict genomic structure from DNA sequence, facilitatin...

A major output of the 4D Nucleome project appeared today. This is the joint effort of many scientists working together and (publicly) sharing data and results for several years. We hope this is of interest to many genome biologists!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH.
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n

The @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social IDP Subgroup Postdoctoral Award honors outstanding Postdoctoral Fellows for research accomplishments with disordered proteins. APPLY by sending your nomination packet to idpsubgroupbps@gmail.com by Dec 15th! Info at:

www.biophysics.org/awards-fundi...

Warmest congratulations, Alex. You truly are the scaffold of our community! 💫
So incredibly well-deserved, and I'm beyond excited to see what's next for you! 🚀✨

Congratulations to Lucy Shapiro, 2025 #LaskerAward winner! – “for a 55-year career in biomedical science – honored for discovering how bacteria generate distinct daughter cells; and for exemplary leadership at the national level”
#Lasker2025 #LaskerLaureate #devbio 🧪

Over the moon to see my postdoc advisor, Prof. Lucy Shapiro, receive a Lasker Award—a brilliant salute to her decades of trail-blazing science, visionary leadership, and transformative mentorship. Congratulations!

Join us this Thursday, June 12, at 1PM for the first of our three summer virtual masterclasses — where seasoned PIs share how they transformed foundational science into VC-backed startups. 🔬🌟

🎟️ For more info, contact biotechsummit@scripps.edu.

ERC grantee wins the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine 2025 Shaw Prize honours ERC-funded research in molecular imaging

🎉 Congratulations to Wolfgang Baumeister @maxplanck.de, awarded the 2025 #ShawPrize in Life Science & Medicine for pioneering work in cryo-ET!

Learn more 👉 europa.eu/!JBXDBG
#FrontierResearch #ERCSyG #CryoET #StructuralBiology #shawprize2025

Now published! Big congrats to first author @gginell.bsky.social

We are actively working improving/updating various aspects of FINCHES; don't hesitate to reach out if you run into issues, have questions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A complete map of human cytosolic degrons and their relevance for disease Degrons are short protein segments that target proteins for degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome system and thus ensure timely removal of signaling proteins and clearance of misfolded proteins fro...

In collaboration with the @lindorfflarsen.bsky.social group we release our map of degrons in >5,000 human cytosolic proteins with >99% coverage. A machine learning model trained on the data identifies missense variants forming degrons in exposed & disordered regions. Work led by @vvouts.bsky.social.

AlphaFold is amazing but gives you static structures 🧊

In a fantastic teamwork, @mcagiada.bsky.social and @emilthomasen.bsky.social developed AF2χ to generate conformational ensembles representing side-chain dynamics using AF2 💃

Code: github.com/KULL-Centre/...
Colab: github.com/matteo-cagia...

Tissue-like multicellular development triggered by mechanical compression in archaea The advent of clonal multicellularity is a critical evolutionary milestone, seen often in eukaryotes, rarely in bacteria, and only once in archaea. We show that uniaxial compression induces clonal mul...

Striking new study from @archaeon-alex.bsky.social's lab just out in @science.org on multicellular development induced by compression in Archaea: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Announcing the joint @idpseminars.bsky.social / BPS IDP Subgroup Trainee Symposium Speakers!

Join us on Mar 27, 12–2pm CST for 6 exciting talks focused on Intrinsically Disordered Proteins as part of #BophysicsWeek2025 with the @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social Sign up now using the QR code below!

This summer in beautiful Santa Barbara we will run a 3-day conference on “Biological Physics of Biomolecular Condensates: Bridging Theory and Experiment” June 16 to 18th. Register now: www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/b...

Radioprotection of healthy tissue via nanoparticle-delivered mRNA encoding for a damage-suppressor protein found in tardigrades - Nature Biomedical Engineering Radiation-therapy-induced DNA damage in oral and rectal epithelial cells can be reduced via the nanoparticle-mediated local delivery of messenger RNA encoding for a damage-suppressor protein found in ...

Big health breakthrough: a protein from tardigrades can now protect human cells from radiation.

That’s going to lead to better cancer therapies.

New Preprint ‼️ Work led by the incredible @ananyac2000.bsky.social 💃🏽💃🏽 Mpipi-T is finally here!!! 🥳🥳 👇🏽👇🏽

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

MBoC #CallForPapers: Special Issue on Biomolecular Condensates

Submit to be considered by lead editors:
Amy Gladfelter, University of North Carolina
Jeffrey B. Woodruff, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Huaiying Zhang, Carnegie Mellon University

www.molbiolcell.org/biomolecular... #CellBiology

AI: A transformative opportunity in cell biology | Molecular Biology of the Cell The success of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in predicting protein structure and more recently, protein interactions, demonstrates the power and potential of machine learning and AI for adva...

From MBoC
AI: A transformative opportunity in cell biology, by Sandra Schmid, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network, et al.

doi.org/10.1091/mbc.... #CellBiology

Molecular grammars of intrinsically disordered regions that span the human proteome Intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins are defined by functionally relevant molecular grammars. This refers to IDR-specific non-random amino acid compositions and non-random patterning of...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

RNA-binding proteins and glycoRNAs form domains on the cell surface for cell-penetrating peptide entry Mammalian cells present RNA-binding proteins on the cell surface that form clustered domains containing glycoRNAs.

Excited to share the work of Jonathan Perr where he uncovered a surprisingly common feature of cell surfaces - the presentation and clustering of RNA binding proteins with #glycoRNA.

Critically support by #NIH @cp-cell.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

An exploded view of the 3D-printed microscope. A front-facing (A), oblique (B), and side-facing view (C) of the microscope are presented, with the chassis coloured in grey and the positions of additional components highlighted with different colours (orange = LED light source, magenta = 3D-printed condenser lens, blue = 3D-printed objective lens, green = CMOS camera). A scale bar is presented in (a) to provide a visualisation of the size of the microscope setup.

First senior-author paper is out today in the Journal of Microscopy! 🧪🔬

We present the first 3D printed microscope where both the optics & frame are entirely 3D printed - a low-cost, accessible, and reproducible tool for histological imaging!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmi.13398

Opinion: Science funding cuts are based on flawed logic. Here’s the truth. Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health issued supplemental guidance indicating it would immediately impose a 15% cap on indirect costs for research grants, an unprecedented and abrup…

In a new op-ed for the @sandiegouniontribune.com, Scripps Research President and CEO Pete Schultz discusses how proposed changes to federal science funding could have unintended consequences for biomedical research, innovation, and the broader life sciences ecosystem in San Diego.

Direct ionic stress sensing and mitigation by the transcription factor NFAT5 Intracellular ionic strength is sensed and regulated by a prion-like domain in a transcription factor.

Ever wondered how mammalian cells sense osmotic stress? There's gotta be a signaling pathway, right?

We propose a *one-component system*: NFAT5, the transcription factor that executes the osmoprotective response, is also the stress sensor!

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

🎉🎉 Kudos to @bornanovak.bsky.social , Jeff, Ryan, and @alexholehouse.bsky.social —this breakthrough work paves the way for exciting new frontiers in disordered protein research! 🌟✨

Part 2 is starting soon! 🤩

Part I of BIV subgroup starts in an hour (8:30 am PT)
Join us!

🚀 Join us at #BPS2025 tomorrow at 8:30 AM for a spectacular lineup of cutting-edge methods & biology in Biopolymers In Vivo! 🧪🔬

🧠 AI & IDP phase behavior | 🌱 Protein thermosensing | ❄️ Cryo-EM
🧬 GTPase activity | 🛠️ Engineered condensates | 🤖 Deep learning | 💧 Phase separation

Today in @nature.com we share our back-to-back stories with Ning Zheng’s lab revealing chemical-genetic convergence between a molecular glue degrader & E3 ligase cancer mutations. 1/5