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Alfredo Castello

@alf-castello

Professor of Systems Bioloy MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research #RNA #Virus #host-virus #OMICS #proteomics Opinions of my own

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06.12.2024
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Latest posts by Alfredo Castello @alf-castello

Coronaviruses reprogram the tRNA epitranscriptome to favor viral protein expression - Nature Communications Coronaviruses use suboptimal codons yet efficiently translate proteins. Here, the authors show that SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43 infections reprogram four host tRNA modifications, linking stress-induced t...

6/ This study is a collaborative effort with Arvind H. Patel & @alf-castello.bsky.social - @cvrinfo.bsky.social; Rafael Sanjuán - @i2sysbio.es & Miguel Chillón - @uab.cat

👇 Check the original article published in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

03.03.2026 09:07 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Delighted to collaborate with @melisupf.bsky.social on this exciting study. Juana Diez and her team reveal that coronaviruses reprogram the cellular tRNA pool to optimise viral gene expression 🤯🍾🥂🥳🥳

03.03.2026 10:13 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Identifiquen una diana terapèutica que permetria frenar la propagació dels coronavirus Es tracta d'un enzim que s'activa en les cèl·lules humanes com a resposta a l'estrès degut a la infecció i provoca canvis en la maquinària cel·lular que afavoreixen la producció i la propagació dels c...

1/ 🎯 A therapeutic target that would curb the spread of #coronaviruses has been identified

It is an enzyme that is activated in human cells in response to stress due to infection and causes changes in the cellular machinery that favour the production and spread of coronaviruses
tuit.cat/5y9Rr

03.03.2026 09:07 👍 14 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 1
Client Challenge

Thrilled to contribute to this awesome work led by Ben Davis and @shabazlab.bsky.social on in situ mapping of the in cellulo cysteinome, which opens lots of exciting applications www.nature.com/articles/s41...

13.01.2026 16:55 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thrilled to contribute to @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social’s new Science paper showing that avian flu polymerase, via its PB1 subunit, stays active at fever temperatures, unlike human flu polymerase. A key factor in their different pathology. 🤯🍾🥂🎉

28.11.2025 07:47 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Thrilled to announce the successful thesis viva defense of Zaydah Roland de Laurent 🦟 on her work defining the RNA interactome of mosquitoes. So proud for her successful defence! Well deserved! #MosquitoResearch #RNA #Doctorate.

15.11.2025 21:20 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

We’ll soon be advertising a postdoc position (3 years) to study how mRNA-specific translational regulation shapes the innate immune system, in collaboration with @alf-castello.bsky.social. The formal ad will be out soon but get in touch if you’d like an informal chat! #RNASky

11.11.2025 15:53 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Are you thinking on an exciting PHD project at the interface of translation control and innate immunity? @rnanomad.bsky.social and I have a project that might interest you!

03.10.2025 13:38 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 1
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Uukuniemi virus infection causes a pervasive remodelling of the RNA-binding proteome in tick cells Author summary In host cells, RNA-binding proteins play essential roles in the life cycle of many viruses by influencing how viral RNA is processed, translated, replicated and assembled into virions. ...

Our new PLOS Pathogens paper with ‪@brennanlab.bsky.social‬ is out! We charted the first protein–RNA interaction map for virus-infected tick cells, revealing 283 RNA-binding proteins reshaped by Uukuniemi virus. Some directly control viral particle output. Full story: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

13.08.2025 15:59 👍 11 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1

Post 5/5 🧵
IMPACT: This transforms tick-borne disease research:
🎯 New drug targets
🎯 Understanding vector competence
🎯 Virus-tick evolution
Testing if mechanisms work across other tick viruses next.

👨‍🔬 collaborative project with @alf-castello.bsky.social and @alainkohlvirology.bsky.social

13.08.2025 12:32 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

🚀 New from Cell: SPIDR is a game-changer—map dozens to hundreds of RNA-binding proteins simultaneously with single-nucleotide precision in one CLIP experiment. An exciting advance for RNA–protein interactomics! 🧬🔗https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.042

27.07.2025 08:02 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Integrating Alternative Fragmentation Techniques into Standard LC-MS Workflows Using a Single Deep Learning Model Enhances Proteome Coverage We built and characterised a mass spectrometer capable of performing CID (both beam type and resonant type), UVPD, EID and ECD in an automated fashion during an LCMS type experiment. We exploited this...

I am really pleased we managed to squeeze this story out during #ASMS2025. This is our contribution relating to the fantastic Omnitrap/Orbitrap. What we thought would be a straightforward conversation of our exploris-omnitrap turned into quite a journey. (1/n)

www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

01.06.2025 17:17 👍 26 🔁 9 💬 1 📌 1

🚨🚨 News from the @castello-lab.bsky.social and @shabazlab.bsky.social. Our work, led by Louisa Iselin, reveals pervasive changes in the RNA-bound proteome induced by interferon. #RNA, #immunity, #interferon, #host-virus www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

03.06.2025 22:01 👍 18 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0
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RNA binding regulation is a new dimension in the type I IFN response The type I interferon (IFN-I) response shapes the intracellular environment to supress virus infection. Historically, this remodelling has been linked to the transcriptional induction of interferon st...

Proud of Louisa Iselin for this work. Not only a covid baby but had both of her supervisors move lab (@alf-castello.bsky.social and me). The works is a meticulous analysis of the interferon pathway and specifially how RNA binding of proteins are modulated by PTMs.

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

02.06.2025 08:38 👍 8 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Happy to see Honglin Chen's paper published! 🎉🎉🍾🥂. Great collaboration with @shabazlab.bsky.social to discover the discordances between RNA and protein in the interferon response...

07.04.2025 21:25 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Addressing NHS chemistry: Efficient quenching of excess TMT reagent and reversing TMT-over labelling in proteomic samples by methylamine N-Hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester chemistry is used extensively across proteomics sample preparation. One of its increasingly prevalent applications is in isobaric reagent-based quantitation such as iT...

A basic solution to a very common problem.

collab with @kusterlab.bsky.social and @bendavisgroup.bsky.social

www.mcponline.org/article/S153...

13.03.2025 14:24 👍 19 🔁 7 💬 2 📌 1
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Great conference at @embl.org on the expanding world of #RBPs. After the hard (fun) work, the @castello-lab.bsky.social chilled out in the beautiful Heidelberg

14.03.2025 20:11 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Pre-print is up! SARS-2 produces a truncated N protein to antagonize multiple antiviral pathways. A very collaborative project in the @corcoranlab.bsky.social with @nogasharlin.bsky.social, Danyel Evseev, and Max Bui-Marinos, and of course the boss Jenn Corcoran

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

02.03.2025 17:59 👍 28 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0
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@science.org Cryo-EM reveals mechanisms of natural RNA multivalency | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#RNAsky #RNAbiology #Cryo-EM

13.03.2025 18:09 👍 107 🔁 38 💬 2 📌 2
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Excellent talk of Louisa Iselin on the remodelling of the RBPome by interferon at the "Expanding Universe of RBPs" in @embl.org, Heidelberg. The @castello-lab.bsky.social is very proud 🍾🥂🎊🎊

12.03.2025 17:19 👍 15 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Spatiotemporal control of translation in live zebrafish embryos via photoprotected mRNAs - Communications Chemistry Translation of mRNA into protein is a fundamental process and tightly controlled during development, however, experimentally controlling the mRNA translation remains challenging. Here, the authors dem...

Translation of mRNA can be triggered with spatiotemporal control in zebrafish 🐟 embryos by light ⚡ & FlashCaps 🧪⚗😊 Kudos to all authors and collaborators 🙏👍
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

27.01.2025 20:21 👍 46 🔁 15 💬 4 📌 2
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Imp/IGF2BP and Syp/SYNCRIP temporal RNA interactomes uncover combinatorial networks of regulators of Drosophila brain development RNA binding protein combinations control neuronal identity through a network of temporal regulators.

Amazing work of our dear friends @ilandavis.bsky.social and @jeffylee.bsky.social characterising the interlinked roles of two key RBPs in drosophila brain development, congratulations 🍾🥂🎉🎉🎉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

17.02.2025 19:02 👍 14 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
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Had a wonderful couple of days with these guys. @alf-castello.bsky.social @marvintanenbaum.bsky.social and Stephen carter. Always a pleasure

23.01.2025 11:56 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

At this END of YEAR please check out our new paper on GENE ENDS and a convenient marker of transcription termination: RNAPII CTD T4ph! We think it is relevant to anyone studying human/animal #genes and #genome so put a lot of effort to make it easy to read. #RNABiology and #Epigenetics meet:)

27.12.2024 16:55 👍 49 🔁 11 💬 1 📌 0
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Why Bax detection in >1400 publications might be flawed - Cell Death & Disease Cell Death & Disease - Why Bax detection in >1400 publications might be flawed

These studies are so important. Well done to the authors and the journal for publishing it. This certainly applies to so many antibodies. Companies selling antibodies should do and provide the right controls before commercialisation.

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

25.12.2024 17:39 👍 21 🔁 8 💬 4 📌 0
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Please check out our paper in collaboration with Nahum Sonenberg's group. We show how some DNA viruses co-opt the host cell translation machinery to repress the cGAS/STING response.
TLDR; the cap-binding protein 4EHP represses the cGAS mRNA translation.
#RNA, #RNASky
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

20.11.2024 13:10 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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Antiviral defence during early development at University of Edinburgh on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Antiviral defence during early development at University of Edinburgh, listed on FindAPhD.com

RECRUITING-PhD student to study the role of RNA-binding proteins in antiviral defence during early development.
#crispr #iclip #omics
Interested candidates, please email a full CV and a statement of interest. Open to both UK and overseas

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

02.12.2024 16:06 👍 5 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
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Alphavirus infection triggers selective cytoplasmic translocation of nuclear RBPs with moonlighting antiviral roles Kamel et al. apply complementary approaches to elucidate the composition of Sindbis virus ribonucleoproteins. They identified a subset of nuclear proteins that selectively translocate to the cytoplasm, interact with viral RNA, and suppress virus infection. Among them, U2 snRNP emerges as a ribonucleoprotein complex with moonlighting antiviral activity.

Nuclear RBPs moonlighting in the cytoplasm as part of the host response to Sindbis virus. Another beautiful work by Alfredo Castelo’s group. I’m struggling to keep up with reading all the amazing papers they’ve published in the last few months.

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

06.12.2024 15:24 👍 6 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
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Ribosome Quality Control mitigates the cytotoxicity of ribosome collisions induced by 5-Fluorouracil Abstract. Ribosome quality control (RQC) resolves collided ribosomes, thus preventing their cytotoxic effects. The chemotherapeutic agent 5-Fluorouracil (5

I am just going to plug-in the latest paper from our lab, wherein we show that treatment with the chemotherapy agent 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) induces ribosome collision and that RQC pathway mitigates the 5FU-induced cytotoxicity. #RNA, #RNASky, #Cancer
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

19.11.2024 14:48 👍 9 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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A deserved celebration after the hard work 🍾🥂. @waelskamel.bsky.social and collaborators from the @castello-lab.bsky.social discovered that the U2 snRNP displays a moonlighting antiviral role and uses the U2 snRNA to interact with viral RNA 🤯🤯🤯 t.co/DJlXFxmGEv

17.12.2024 19:04 👍 19 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0