Levental Lab
@leventallab.bsky.social
laboratory on structure and functions of living membranes lab at University of Virginia ; also posts occasional nonsense - views our own, not UVA
www.levental-lab.com
www.levental-lab.com
Reposted by Levental Lab
The key to processing cryoEM is to capitalize on your priors. People will tell you to un-bias your science. You cant remove bias from science. What you can do is limit and control negative bias while capitalizing on positive bias. Knowing and utilizing priors, having proper controls is good science
February 10, 2026 at 1:12 AM
The key to processing cryoEM is to capitalize on your priors. People will tell you to un-bias your science. You cant remove bias from science. What you can do is limit and control negative bias while capitalizing on positive bias. Knowing and utilizing priors, having proper controls is good science
Reposted by Levental Lab
![Comic. [2x2 chart. Top left quadrant: seem like dinosaurs x are dinosaurs. Silhouettes of dinosaurs stegosaurus, triceratops, tyrannosaurus, velociraptor, and long-neck dinosaur. Top right quadrant: seem like dinosaurs x are not dinosaurs. Silhouettes of mosasaur, quetzalcoatlus, dimetrodon, plesiosaur, and pteranodon. Bottom left quadrant: don’t seem like dinosaurs x are dinosaurs. Silhouettes of penguin, egret, ostrich, pigeon, falcon. Bottom right: don’t seem like dinosaurs x are not dinosaurs. Silhouettes of squirrel, stapler, plant, person, and bicycle.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihcxd5wcrrf5nxz3g4riglsrccbucmdns6kxrtmtj6gjgwqibp3fi@jpeg)
February 9, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Levental Lab
He looks like a vampiric gerbil.
February 6, 2026 at 10:25 PM
He looks like a vampiric gerbil.
Reposted by Levental Lab
Not something you see in textbooks very often: tripolar mitosis.
February 7, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Not something you see in textbooks very often: tripolar mitosis.
Reposted by Levental Lab
I remade an old render with a more exact version. The most efficient packing possible of 17 squares into a larger square. I use it as an inspiring example: just because something looks stupid doesn't mean it's not the best that you can do.
February 6, 2026 at 4:28 AM
I remade an old render with a more exact version. The most efficient packing possible of 17 squares into a larger square. I use it as an inspiring example: just because something looks stupid doesn't mean it's not the best that you can do.
Reposted by Levental Lab
Lipids challenge ligands to control receptors
The behaviour of a receptor protein can be influenced by the presence of certain lipids in the membrane it is embedded in.
🔗 buff.ly/G1Zl6cZ
The behaviour of a receptor protein can be influenced by the presence of certain lipids in the membrane it is embedded in.
🔗 buff.ly/G1Zl6cZ
February 6, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Lipids challenge ligands to control receptors
The behaviour of a receptor protein can be influenced by the presence of certain lipids in the membrane it is embedded in.
🔗 buff.ly/G1Zl6cZ
The behaviour of a receptor protein can be influenced by the presence of certain lipids in the membrane it is embedded in.
🔗 buff.ly/G1Zl6cZ
Reposted by Levental Lab
An intracellular meteor shower. EB3 comets tracking growing microtubule plus-ends in a cultured cell.
February 5, 2026 at 5:27 AM
An intracellular meteor shower. EB3 comets tracking growing microtubule plus-ends in a cultured cell.
Reposted by Levental Lab
Love every moment
There's no time for anything but joy
Reflections on reaching a final
open.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Love every moment
Reposted by Levental Lab
AI CEOs: "We will cure cancer in a decade."
Media: "Wow, yay!"
Actual cancer researcher and clinician: "Cancer's end is not conceivable."
observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
Media: "Wow, yay!"
Actual cancer researcher and clinician: "Cancer's end is not conceivable."
observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
The biographer of cancer writes a new chapter | The Observer
Siddhartha Mukherjee is the disease’s great chronicler and adversary. He tells cancer survivor Chris Power why it will always be part of who we are
observer.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 8:31 AM
AI CEOs: "We will cure cancer in a decade."
Media: "Wow, yay!"
Actual cancer researcher and clinician: "Cancer's end is not conceivable."
observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
Media: "Wow, yay!"
Actual cancer researcher and clinician: "Cancer's end is not conceivable."
observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
Reposted by Levental Lab
Reposted by Levental Lab
My laboratory (www.spiliotislab.org) at University of Virginia is hiring a new Lab Specialist.
Looking for candidates with experience in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or lab management.
Join us in scenic Charlottesville, Virginia!
jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...
Looking for candidates with experience in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or lab management.
Join us in scenic Charlottesville, Virginia!
jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...
Lab Research Professional 2 UVA Spiliotis Lab in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America | Research at University of Virginia
Apply for Lab Research Professional 2 UVA Spiliotis Lab job with University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America. Research at University of Virginia
jobs.virginia.edu
February 3, 2026 at 11:41 PM
My laboratory (www.spiliotislab.org) at University of Virginia is hiring a new Lab Specialist.
Looking for candidates with experience in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or lab management.
Join us in scenic Charlottesville, Virginia!
jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...
Looking for candidates with experience in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or lab management.
Join us in scenic Charlottesville, Virginia!
jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...
Reposted by Levental Lab
interesting read😯
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Cell membranes sustain phospholipid imbalance via cholesterol asymmetry
This work challenges a major assumption in cell biology by showing that lipid bilayers
can have drastically different phospholipid abundances between their two leaflets.
This lipid abundance asymmetry...
www.cell.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:56 AM
interesting read😯
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Reposted by Levental Lab
Today at 17:00 CET - the first #MembraneTrafficking seminar of 2026.
Giovanni D’Angelo (EPFL) and Sean Munro (MRC-LMB), explore protein trafficking, retention, and sorting at the Golgi.
Join us for exciting discussions about the best organelle!
Details at felixcampelo.wixsite.com/membranetraf...
Giovanni D’Angelo (EPFL) and Sean Munro (MRC-LMB), explore protein trafficking, retention, and sorting at the Golgi.
Join us for exciting discussions about the best organelle!
Details at felixcampelo.wixsite.com/membranetraf...
MEMBRANE TRAFFICKING | Membrane Trafficking
felixcampelo.wixsite.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:36 AM
Today at 17:00 CET - the first #MembraneTrafficking seminar of 2026.
Giovanni D’Angelo (EPFL) and Sean Munro (MRC-LMB), explore protein trafficking, retention, and sorting at the Golgi.
Join us for exciting discussions about the best organelle!
Details at felixcampelo.wixsite.com/membranetraf...
Giovanni D’Angelo (EPFL) and Sean Munro (MRC-LMB), explore protein trafficking, retention, and sorting at the Golgi.
Join us for exciting discussions about the best organelle!
Details at felixcampelo.wixsite.com/membranetraf...
Reposted by Levental Lab
Join us this Thursday (Jan 29) at 5pm CET for the first #MembraneTrafficking seminars of 2026, featuring two outstanding scientists, Giovanni D'Angelo (EPFL) and Sean Munro (@cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social), and the shared topic of protein trafficking, retention & sorting at the #Golgi 🥞
January 27, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Join us this Thursday (Jan 29) at 5pm CET for the first #MembraneTrafficking seminars of 2026, featuring two outstanding scientists, Giovanni D'Angelo (EPFL) and Sean Munro (@cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social), and the shared topic of protein trafficking, retention & sorting at the #Golgi 🥞
Excited to share a new story that transformed how we think about membrane domains in the ER!
rdcu.be/eR7Cn
ER exit sites mediated by the COPII adaptor sec24D selectively recruit lipid raft-preferencing proteins for rapid ER export
Wondering what’s so new and exciting? Skytorial below!
1/9
rdcu.be/eR7Cn
ER exit sites mediated by the COPII adaptor sec24D selectively recruit lipid raft-preferencing proteins for rapid ER export
Wondering what’s so new and exciting? Skytorial below!
1/9
ER exit sites mediated by the COPII adaptor sec24D selectively recruit lipid raft-preferring proteins for rapid ER export
Nature Communications - Through synchronized cargo traffic experiments, the authors explore the role of raft partitioning in ER efflux. Raft-preferring cargos show specific preferences for ER exit...
rdcu.be
January 24, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Excited to share a new story that transformed how we think about membrane domains in the ER!
rdcu.be/eR7Cn
ER exit sites mediated by the COPII adaptor sec24D selectively recruit lipid raft-preferencing proteins for rapid ER export
Wondering what’s so new and exciting? Skytorial below!
1/9
rdcu.be/eR7Cn
ER exit sites mediated by the COPII adaptor sec24D selectively recruit lipid raft-preferencing proteins for rapid ER export
Wondering what’s so new and exciting? Skytorial below!
1/9
Reposted by Levental Lab
January 24, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Reposted by Levental Lab
Integrative structural biology by the sea
The Jan 31st deadline for our FEBS advanced course on integrative structural biology is getting closer, so get your applications in for Lost In Integrative Vol. 2
probingbiomolecules2026.febsevents.org
network.febs.org/posts/integr...
The Jan 31st deadline for our FEBS advanced course on integrative structural biology is getting closer, so get your applications in for Lost In Integrative Vol. 2
probingbiomolecules2026.febsevents.org
network.febs.org/posts/integr...
January 24, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Integrative structural biology by the sea
The Jan 31st deadline for our FEBS advanced course on integrative structural biology is getting closer, so get your applications in for Lost In Integrative Vol. 2
probingbiomolecules2026.febsevents.org
network.febs.org/posts/integr...
The Jan 31st deadline for our FEBS advanced course on integrative structural biology is getting closer, so get your applications in for Lost In Integrative Vol. 2
probingbiomolecules2026.febsevents.org
network.febs.org/posts/integr...
Reposted by Levental Lab
I’ll soon share a call for a postdoc at Institut Jacques Monod (Paris) on fundamental mechanisms of membrane traffic and protein/collagen secretion in health and disease. Please get in touch if interested.
January 23, 2026 at 10:59 AM
I’ll soon share a call for a postdoc at Institut Jacques Monod (Paris) on fundamental mechanisms of membrane traffic and protein/collagen secretion in health and disease. Please get in touch if interested.
Reposted by Levental Lab
Removing adverbs like ‘strikingly’ and ‘interestingly’ from the manuscript
January 21, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Removing adverbs like ‘strikingly’ and ‘interestingly’ from the manuscript
Reposted by Levental Lab
LLOMe has long been used to study lysosomal damage, yet how it works has remained a mystery.
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
January 20, 2026 at 10:01 AM
LLOMe has long been used to study lysosomal damage, yet how it works has remained a mystery.
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
Reposted by Levental Lab
Reposted by Levental Lab
This shot from NFL Films is unbelievable
January 19, 2026 at 6:10 PM
This shot from NFL Films is unbelievable
Reposted by Levental Lab
Reposted by Levental Lab
A greeting card for my Bluesky friends
January 17, 2026 at 10:53 PM
A greeting card for my Bluesky friends
Reposted by Levental Lab
Posting this to X, Threads, and Bluesky as an experiment
January 20, 2026 at 1:04 AM
Posting this to X, Threads, and Bluesky as an experiment