Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LightNews

GW Gant Luxton

@gwgl.bsky.social

160 followers 180 following 71 posts

I’m Gant. My lab studies how the structure of cells affects disease progression. Allen Distinguished Investigator in Molecular and Celular Biology at @UCDavis. https://luxton.faculty.ucdavis.edu

luxton.faculty.ucdavis.edu

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Science Magazine @science.org · 4d

This year’s #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for discovering how the immune system distinguishes friend from foe. https://scim.ag/3Wt5rdi

Medicine Nobel goes to three researchers who identified immune system’s security guards

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered regulatory T cells that prevent autoimmune disease

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Nature @nature.com · 4d

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for discovering a class of immune cells that help to prevent the body from attacking its own tissues

go.nature.com/48QDdAJ

Medicine Nobel goes to scientists who revealed secrets of immune system ‘regulation’

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered cells that protect the body from autoimmune diseases.

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 17d

Write your program officer and grants management official TODAY and thank them! It takes 30 seconds and its really appreciated. The only reason they're remotely this close is because those folks are working 60 hour weeks under immense pressure

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 17d

Here are data on the percentage of FY2024 appropriation committed to date in FY2025. Most ICs are well on track, but four ICs (NIMHD, NINR, NHLBI, NHGRI) still appear to be under 80%.

Note that values >100% reflect either a higher appropriation for FY25 or an increased % devoted to grants.

A table of the percentage of fiscal year 2025 funding compared to fiscal year 2024 for 25 NIH institutes and centers (and the Office of the Director).

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Xiangyi Ding @xiangyiding.bsky.social · 17d

🎉Check out our new preprint!! 🧬We found that lamin mutations in muscular dystrophy don’t just affect the nucleus — they disrupt a nucleolar–ribosomal axis that reorganizes the entire cytoplasm.
Very grateful to @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social, @gwgl.bsky.social and our lab for collaboration & support!

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

🧬 NEW Starr-Luxton Lab PREPRINT: Our 🌠grad student
@XiangyiDing
figured out why muscular dystrophy mutations cause such widespread cellular chaos. The answer wasn't what we expected - and it changes how we think about the disease. Thread🧵 (1/6). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

Therapeutic implications: target ribosome production pathways, not just nuclear proteins.
@danstarrucdavis.bsky.social (6/6)
#CellBiology #MuscularDystrophy #FrontierScience

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

This changes how we think about laminopathies. It's not just nuclear mechanics or gene regulation - it's fundamental cellular biophysics being rewired by ribosome depletion. (5/6)

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

Lamin mutations → disrupted nucleolus → fewer ribosomes → altered cytoplasmic crowding → cellular chaos
We call this the "nucleolar-ribosomal axis" and it explains the widespread cellular defects in EDMD. (4/6)

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

Using nanoparticle tracking in living C. elegans, we discovered that lamin mutations do not just break nuclear mechanics, they trigger a cascade that reorganizes the entire cytoplasm. (3/6)

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is caused by mutations in nuclear proteins (lamins/emerin). But patients show problems way beyond the nucleus: misplaced organelles, disrupted cell structure, etc. Current models couldn't fully explain this. (2/6)

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 17d

🧬 NEW Starr-Luxton Lab PREPRINT: Our 🌠grad student
@XiangyiDing
figured out why muscular dystrophy mutations cause such widespread cellular chaos. The answer wasn't what we expected - and it changes how we think about the disease. Thread🧵 (1/6). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Dammermann Lab @dammermannlab.bsky.social · 21d

Centrosomes might look tough, but they are actually big softies - see the latest work from the Dammermann lab now on BioRxiv:

Júlia Garcia-Baucells @jugarbau.bsky.social · 21d

 1/6 Extremely happy to share my PhD work is out on bioRxiv! We discovered that microtubules deform mitotic centrosomes. When we removed them, the SPD-5 scaffold became denser but didn't lose material. This suggests it's an elastically deformable solid! This only happens in mitosis.

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Allen Institute @alleninstitute.org · 29d

Congrats to @xiangyiding.bsky.social et al. on their new study on the intense cellular dance happening in worm cells! 🕺

Dive into the #FrontierScience of organelle crowd control. 👇

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 10

🧬BREAKING!🪱Plot twist: Cells aren't meditation pools, they're overcrowded concerts with VIP ropes everywhere! Our
study reveals worm cells are insanely crowded AND compartmentalized. Ribosomes = packing peanuts, ANC-1 = the bouncer!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Giant KASH proteins and ribosomes establish distinct cytoplasmic biophysical properties in vivo

Living tissues maintain unique intracellular biophysical properties under the control of cytoplasmic constraints and crowding.

www.science.org

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 10

Many thanks to Liana Wait for this fabulous write up!

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 10

biology.ucdavis.edu/news/worms-r...

Worms Reveal Just How Cramped Cells Really Are

In a new study published in Science Advances on September 10, a team of UC Davis researchers tracked the movement of fluorescent particles inside the cells of microscopic worms, providing unprecedente...

biology.ucdavis.edu

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 10

🧬Want the full story of our paper without the science jargon? Our @ucdavis.bsky.social department broke down our "cells are crowded AND constrained" findings in plain English! Perfect explanation of why worm cells are nothing like cultured cells 🪱🌠

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 10

Congrats to first authors
@xiangyiding.bsky.social, Hongyan Hao, and Daniel Elnatan! This was a fantastic collaboration with
Liam Holt at NYU and the Starr
@danstarrucdavis.bsky.social
-Luxton lab. Many thanks to
@alleninstitute.org nstitute
and @NIGMS for funding this work. #Frontierscience

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 10

🧬BREAKING!🪱Plot twist: Cells aren't meditation pools, they're overcrowded concerts with VIP ropes everywhere! Our
study reveals worm cells are insanely crowded AND compartmentalized. Ribosomes = packing peanuts, ANC-1 = the bouncer!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Giant KASH proteins and ribosomes establish distinct cytoplasmic biophysical properties in vivo

Living tissues maintain unique intracellular biophysical properties under the control of cytoplasmic constraints and crowding.

www.science.org

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 9

@danstarrucdavis.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Sep 9

🚨Our fabulous graduate student Selin's paper on how the KASH protein UNC-83 regulates the activity of kinesin-1 to control developmental stage-specific nuclear migration is out! Another great collaboration between the Starr-Luxton and MOM labs.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The KASH protein UNC-83 differentially regulates kinesin-1 activity to control developmental stage-specific nuclear migration

Nuclear migration plays a fundamental role in development, requiring precise spatiotemporal control of bidirectional movement through dynein and kines…

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Dr. Ahna Skop @ahnaskop.bsky.social · Jul 4

2025 Worm Show

youtu.be/HXgUZzLJ-b0?...

YouTube video by Morris Maduro

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

Dr. Ahna Skop @ahnaskop.bsky.social · Jul 2

Our review is out! Such an honor to publish with Ryoko and Michael-early midbody leaders!

The midbody and midbody remnant: from cellular debris to signaling organelle with diagnostic and therapeutic potential

www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10....

The midbody and midbody remnant: from cellular debris to signaling organelle with diagnostic and therapeutic potential | Molecular Biology of the Cell

The midbody (MB), a transient structure formed during cytokinesis, has evolved from a mere structural component to a complex signaling organelle with diverse functions beyond cell division. Recent stu...

www.molbiolcell.org

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Jun 30

Congratulations to Dr. Gümüşderelioğlum from the Starr-Luxton Lab @ucdavis.bsky.social! 🎓 Fresh off her recent PhD defense, she gave an excellent talk this morning at the Cell Biology session of #Worm2025 on UNC-83 molecular switches in nuclear migration. So proud! 👏 #NewPhD #CellBiology

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Jun 30

Incredible plenary presentation by Starr-Luxton Lab student @xiangyiding.bsky.social at the International Worm Meeting! Who knew C. elegans cytoplasm has the viscosity of strawberry jam? 🍓 So proud! #Worm2025 #frontierscience @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social

GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · Jun 28

Thank you so much! It was such a joy to see Xiangyi's transformation through the MBL program. Looking forward to the blog post - and thanks for highlighting how these summer courses shape the next generation of scientists!

Reposted by GW Gant Luxton

VivienM @vivienm.bsky.social · Jun 27

So nice that you encouraged her to apply. Oh and she is also in this teeny-tiny blog post. Still in the works. communities.springernature.com/posts/when-s...

When summertime courses transform a science journey

Summer courses can shape one's science and change one's life, too.

communities.springernature.com