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The EMBO Journal
@embojournal.org
Non-for-profit publication of research in molecular, cell & organismal biology - as part of @embopress.org
Fast-fair-transparent / Open Access / Open Science
Pinned
Highlights in our first 2026 issue:
NLRP6 can sense you bacteria
Immunemap data sharing in intravital imaging

ADP-ribosylation as protein degradation mark
Damage sensing in PINK1-Parkin–mediated mitophagy
Perspective: innate immunity in tumor immunosurveillance

link.springer.com/journal/4431...
Vincenzo D’Angiolella @vdangioe3lab.bsky.social et al show that the little-studied F-box protein FBXO42 exerts many of its cellular roles by limiting PP4 phosphatase activity to ensure proper DNA damage signaling
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Client Challenge
link.springer.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:06 PM
The Expanding Roles of Homologous Recombination Proteins in Genome Stability
@labvincenzo.bsky.social review how RAD51 shields DNA from nucleolytic processing, promotes fork reversal, suppresses replicative DNA gaps, binds abasic sites to avert cytotoxic conversion
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
January 9, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by The EMBO Journal
Check out our latest story on AHR and PARP7 (TIPARP) degradation by the ADP-ribose-targeting E3 ligase DTX2 in the first issue of 2026 @embojournal.org!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Ubiquitin pathway blockade reveals endogenous ADP-ribosylation marking PARP7 and AHR for degradation - The EMBO Journal
ADP-ribosylation is an important protein post-translational modification catalysed by a family of PARP enzymes in humans and is involved in DNA damage and immunity among other processes. While poly-AD...
link.springer.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Revisiting giant virus-host dynamics in brown algae: Susana Coelho and colleagues @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social review old stories and new perspectives
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
January 8, 2026 at 2:17 PM
FlowVision:
@guijacquemet.bsky.social @johannaivaska.bsky.social et al describe a fast label-free live imaging approach revealing key principles of cancer cell arrest on endothelial monolayers–such as flow dynamics & CD44 interaction with matrix hyaluronic acid
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Fast label-free live imaging with FlowVision reveals key principles of cancer cell arrest on endothelial monolayers - The EMBO Journal
The rapid, transient, and unpredictable nature of interactions between circulating cells and the endothelium challenges the investigation of these events under flow conditions. Here, we developed an i...
link.springer.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Pre-meiotic H1.1 degradation is essential for Arabidopsis gametogenesis
Celia Baroux and collaborators
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
January 8, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Ren, Huang et al identify a consensus pentapeptide motif in known iron-sulfur-cluster proteins that targets a distinctive binding pocket within the Cytosolic Fe-S Cluster Assembly Targeting Complex (CTC), enabling discovery of previously unrecognized Fe-S proteins
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Client recruitment mechanism of the cytosolic Fe-S cluster assembly targeting complex - The EMBO Journal
Most cytosolic and nuclear eukaryotic Fe-S proteins acquire their critical Fe-S cofactor by interacting with the cytosolic Fe-S cluster assembly targeting complex (CTC). Despite the critical roles the...
link.springer.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Epromoters bind key stress-related transcription factors to regulate clusters of stress response genes
Salvatore @spicuglia.bsky.social and coworkers
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Epromoters bind key stress-related transcription factors to regulate clusters of stress response genes - The EMBO Journal
Cellular and environmental stress triggers the rapid and global reprogramming of gene transcription by coordinated recruitment of a limited number of key inducible transcription factors to cis-regulat...
link.springer.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Bacterial ubiquitin ligase engineered for small molecule and protein target identification
Vincent Tagliabracci and collaborators
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Bacterial ubiquitin ligase engineered for small molecule and protein target identification - The EMBO Journal
The Legionella SidE effectors ubiquitinate host proteins independently of the canonical E1-E2 cascade. Here we engineer the SidE ligases to develop a modular proximity ligation approach for the identi...
link.springer.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Highlights in our first 2026 issue:
NLRP6 can sense you bacteria
Immunemap data sharing in intravital imaging

ADP-ribosylation as protein degradation mark
Damage sensing in PINK1-Parkin–mediated mitophagy
Perspective: innate immunity in tumor immunosurveillance

link.springer.com/journal/4431...
January 7, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Asymmetric envelope surface disposition of the #Caulobacter pentapeptide repeat protein YjbI controls bimodal antibiotic susceptibilities by suppressing envelope stress responses
@viollierpat.bsky.social and coworkers
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Asymmetric envelope surface disposition of secreted protein YjbI controls bimodal antibiotic susceptibilities in C. crescentus - The EMBO Journal
Cytoplasmic pentapeptide repeat proteins (PRPs) protect bacterial DNA gyrase from quinolone antibiotics. While some secreted PRPs are essential upon quinolone exposure, their role in the regulation of...
link.springer.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:58 AM
A fibroblast-like endothelial cell state promotes atherosclerosis via C/EBPβ-activated TGF-β signaling
Luyang Yu, Cong Qiu and coworkers
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A fibroblast-like endothelial cell state promotes atherosclerosis via C/EBPβ-activated TGF-β signaling - The EMBO Journal
Endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction is a critical driver of chronic vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. However, the molecular details of EC state dynamics during vascular disease progression rem...
link.springer.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Single-nucleotide m6A mapping by Omri Wurtzel and coworkers shows that tissue maintenance and cell fate of regenerative planarian flatworms are shaped by combined activity of YTHDF modification-reader proteins
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Single-nucleotide m⁶A mapping uncovers redundant YTHDF function in planarian progenitor fate selection - The EMBO Journal
Cell fate decisions require tight regulation of gene expression. In planarians, highly regenerative flatworms, the mRNA modification N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modulates progenitor production and fate. ...
link.springer.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by The EMBO Journal
Sit back, get out the popcorn and settle in to a long, but gripping, review on the Population Genetics aspects of epimutations, which I wrote with my colleage Nabeel Ganem for @embojournal.org. I probably enjoyed writing this more than most other articles I've done!
January 6, 2026 at 6:33 PM
The ATG8 E3-like ligases sense lysosomal damage and initiate ESCRT-mediated membrane repair
Dale Corkery, Yao-Wen Wu et al
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The ATG8 E3-like ligases sense lysosomal damage and initiate ESCRT-mediated membrane repair - The EMBO Journal
After damage from pathogenic, chemical or physical stress, endolysosomal membranes are repaired and resealed by the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery, but how this mem...
link.springer.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Membrane curvature initiates Cdc42-FBP17-N-WASP clustering and actin nucleation
Yansong Miao and coworkers
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Membrane curvature initiates Cdc42-FBP17-N-WASP clustering and actin nucleation - The EMBO Journal
The architecture of actin networks at the cell surface is regulated by local membrane topology. However, how actin nucleation can respond sensitively to the degree of membrane curvature remains incomp...
link.springer.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:40 AM
Hong Cheng and collaborators show how alternative polyadenylation can facilitate muscle differentiation and regeneration: 3’UTR shortening of differentiation-gene mRNAs alleviates their repression by myomiR muscle-specific miRNAs
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
3′UTR shortening alleviates miRNA repression of mRNAs critical for muscle stem cell differentiation - The EMBO Journal
Alternative polyadenylation (APA) modulates gene expression by altering 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) length. Although 3′UTR lengthening typically accompanies cell differentiation, we unexpectedly ob...
link.springer.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Basonuclin-2 promotes fracture repair through NuRD-dependent chromatin remodeling in periosteal stem cells
Weiguo Zou, Lijun Wang and colleagues
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Basonuclin-2 promotes fracture repair through NuRD-dependent chromatin remodeling in periosteal stem cells - The EMBO Journal
Bone fracture healing remains a significant challenge in orthopedics, as injury-responsive skeletal stem cell (SSC) populations and the regulatory mechanisms governing SSC activation during nonunion fracture repair remain poorly delineated. This study identifies zinc finger transcription factor basonuclin-2 (BNC2) as a skeletal fracture repair control factor in periosteal stem cells. BNC2 marks quiescent periosteal cells during homeostasis and is significantly upregulated upon injury in mice, driving endochondral ossification post-fracture via clonal expansion. Moreover, knockout of Bnc2 in Prx1-cre+ cells (not Ocn-cre+ osteoblasts or LepR-creER+ BMSCs) resulted in impaired fracture healing, suppressing SSC proliferation. Mechanistically, ATAC-seq revealed that BNC2 deletion reduced chromatin accessibility at promoter regions of proliferation genes, hindering transcriptional activation. Additionally, BNC2 regulates histone H3 acetylation by interacting with the NuRD complex. Pharmacologically inhibition of HDAC1/2 activity partially ameliorated the fracture repair defects observed in Prx1-cre; Bnc2f/f mice. Collectively, we identified BNC2+ cells as a rapidly expanding periosteal cell population inducing endochondral ossification niches during repair, providing potential therapeutic strategies for nonunion fractures.
link.springer.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by The EMBO Journal
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s multimillion-dollar settlement has been applauded by science integrity sleuths. https://scim.ag/4j3S65W
Misconduct sleuth wins $2.63 million from major cancer institute in $15 million settlement
Data detectives see validation in deal with U.S. government that penalizes Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for misrepresenting data in NIH grant applications
www.science.org
December 17, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by The EMBO Journal
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The transaminase-ω-amidase pathway senses oxidative stress to control glutamine metabolism and α-ketoglutarate levels in endothelial cells
The transaminase-ω-amidase pathway senses oxidative stress to control glutamine metabolism and α-ketoglutarate levels in endothelial cells - The EMBO Journal
Oxidative stress is a major driver of cardiovascular disease; however, the fast changes in cellular metabolism caused by short-lived reactive oxygen species (ROS) remain ill-defined. Here, we characte...
link.springer.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Tumor-secreted clusterin promotes cachectic fat wasting via disrupting circadian gene expression and adipogenesis
Yan Liu, Liming Chen et al
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Tumor-secreted clusterin promotes cachectic fat wasting via disrupting circadian gene expression and adipogenesis - The EMBO Journal
Fat mass loss is a severe complication in cancer-associated cachexia, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study identifies the tumor-secreted chaperone clusterin (CLU) as a driver of wh...
link.springer.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The transaminase-ω-amidase pathway senses oxidative stress to control glutamine metabolism and α-ketoglutarate levels in endothelial cells
Ralf Brandes, Flavia Rezende and coworkers
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The transaminase-ω-amidase pathway senses oxidative stress to control glutamine metabolism and α-ketoglutarate levels in endothelial cells - The EMBO Journal
Oxidative stress is a major driver of cardiovascular disease; however, the fast changes in cellular metabolism caused by short-lived reactive oxygen species (ROS) remain ill-defined. Here, we characte...
link.springer.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Widespread mono- and oligoadenylation direct small noncoding RNA maturation versus degradation fates
Jens Lykke-Andersen and colleagues
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Widespread mono- and oligoadenylation direct small noncoding RNA maturation versus degradation fates - The EMBO Journal
Small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs) are subject to 3’-end trimming and tailing activities that impact maturation versus degradation decisions during biogenesis. To investigate the dynamics of human sncRNA ...
link.springer.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by The EMBO Journal
Thanks, Chris! And yep, all going brilliantly - 270 delegates and fantastic talks and posters. Great to see so much support for fundamental discovery science and membrane biology here! Thanks @jcellsci.bsky.social, @embojournal.org and @bscb-official.bsky.social for support!
Haven’t posted for a while but @jezcarlton.bsky.social opening up the annual UK membrane trafficking meeting #UKMT seems like an appropriate reason to post!

Great line up - as ever - with organisers Jez and Chris Stefan introducing a poster session too 🤓
December 15, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A mechanism for controlling mRNA localization to neuronal projections:
Daniel Dominguez, Matthew Taliaferro @jmtali.bsky.social and collaborators implicated ALS-linked TDP-43 as inhibitor of mRNA accumulation in neurites, possibly by promoting their decay
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
TDP-43 directly inhibits mRNA accumulation in neurites through modulation of mRNA stability - The EMBO Journal
The subcellular localization of many mRNAs to neuronal projections allows neurons to efficiently and rapidly react to spatially restricted external cues. However, for most of these RNAs, the mechanism...
link.springer.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:00 PM