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Reposted by Bess Frost

Nature Cell Biology @natcellbio.nature.com · 4d

💫NEW: Sun et al. identify a subset of transposable elements that serve as mechano-response enhancer elements that control #GeneExpression and human #StemCell fate.
👉https://rdcu.be/eJqGP
bit.ly/4gYgJjm

A subset of transposable elements as mechano-response enhancer elements in controlling human embryonic stem cell fate - Nature Cell Biology

Sun et al. identify a subset of transposable elements that serve as mechano-response enhancer elements that control gene expression and human stem cell fate.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Sara Wickstrom @sarawickstrom.bsky.social · 9d

How do #stemcells integrate information to coordinate fate decisions? Delighted to finally see our work showing how growth factors regulate the mechano-osmotic state of the #nucleus and #chromatin to control #pluripotency exit out! www.nature.com/articles/s41... see 🧵 👇

Mechano-osmotic signals control chromatin state and fate transitions in pluripotent stem cells - Nature Cell Biology

McCreery, Stubb et al. show that mechano-osmotic changes in the nucleus induce general transcriptional repression and prime chromatin for cell fate transitions by relieving repression of specific differentiation genes.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Selina Wray @selinawray.bsky.social · 14d

Incredible!!!

UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences @uclbrainscience.bsky.social · 14d

🧵 BREAKING: Gene therapy shows promise in slowing Huntington’s disease progression. A major milestone in neurodegenerative disease research. @uclqsion.bsky.social @ucl-hd.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Nature Reviews Neuroscience @natrevneuro.nature.com · Aug 21

Brain on standby — how torpor made ‘tauopathy’ reversible — a Journal Club article by Nina M. Rzechorzek

@dynamicbrain.bsky.social

#neuroscience #neuroskyence

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

Brain on standby — how torpor made ‘tauopathy’ reversible - Nature Reviews Neuroscience

In this Journal Club, Nina Rzechorzek explores a 2003 article showing that, during hibernation, ground squirrels reversibly accumulate highly phosphorylated tau in the brain (a hallmark of Alzheimer’s...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Dr Sian Gramates @drglam.bsky.social · Aug 11

I just got the notice that all the FlyBase people at Harvard, including me, will be laid off on October 12. I'm devastated.

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Jul 29

If you are at #AAIC25 and want to see new, unpublished data on #tau, #retrotransposons and circular DNA, check out poster #847 by Morgan Lambert @BrownUniversity from 3:30-4:15 today!

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Jul 27

If science in the US ends due to continuous funding cuts, I think I’ll try to join a scientific conference dance troupe. #AAIC2025

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Josh Dubnau @joshdubnau.bsky.social · Jun 18

1/2 Great article by Amber Dance in @knowablemag.bsky.social, a lay explanation of the @annualreviews.bsky.social that @bessfrost.bsky.social and I wrote about the “retrotransposon storm” hypothesis of Neurodegeneration.

knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

How rogue jumping genes can spur Alzheimer’s, ALS

Our genomes are peppered with DNA segments called retrotransposons that can move from place to place. When unleashed, some can kill nerves and promote inflammation — a discovery that may inspire treat...

knowablemagazine.org

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Jun 8

More complete analysis of NIH outlays (or lack thereof) from grant-watch.us

grant-watch.us/posts/trends...

Trends in NIH outlays: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, and Northwestern funding drops to $0 – Grant Watch

grant-watch.us

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · Jun 7

The Trump HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon is a flat liar. Peer review selects the best grants and awards them for several years and that’s it.

The Trump admin has politicized American science in an unprecedented way and now lies about it. Journalists: ask scientists about what’s happened for the truth.

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Carolyn Johnson @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social · Jun 3

In case you needed a smile this Tuesday: 10-month-old baby KJ, who received a bespoke gene-editing therapy after a six month scientific sprint - "graduated" from the hospital @childrensphila.bsky.social today and went HOME!

YAY SCIENCE!

Here's his story: wapo.st/451ZQjT

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · Jun 3

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯

Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below.

This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Marc Dionne @marcsdionne.bsky.social · Jun 3

My lab studies bacterial infections. We spend a lot of time looking at (or for) species-specific genetic and genomic databases for hosts and microbes. FlyBase is the best of all—there is literally no comparison. Its existence is under threat. Please donate.
www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...

Drosophila Genetic Database

The Drosophila Genetic Database, FlyBase, is on the brink of collapse due to the sudden termination of the FlyBase NIH grant, which includes salaries for 5 literature curators based at the University ...

www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Jun 1

alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Insights into pathophysiology, biomarkers, and therapeutics in tauopathies: Proceedings of the Tau2024 Global Conference

Recent years have seen major advances in tau-associated brain disorders through interdisciplinary research spanning molecular biology, neuroimaging, clinical trials, and therapeutic development. The...

alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · May 30

An amazing PhD student in my lab just received notice that her individual F31 fellowship focused on Alzheimer’s disease/Tauopathy was terminated.

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Frank Shewmaker @frank-shewmaker.bsky.social · May 19

Progress with rapid & accessible biomarkers of neurodegeneration! Fujirebio received FDA clearance for a blood assay that predicts amyloid plaque pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease. The assay measures the plasma ratio of pTau217:β-Amyloid1-42.
www.fujirebio.com/en-us/news-e...
🧪

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · May 19

This is also the case at Brown since early April

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Apr 18

www.science.org/content/arti...

Could blocking ‘jumping genes’ help fight disease and aging?

The first clinical trials are testing inhibitors of transposons, DNA sequences that hop around the genome on their own

www.science.org

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Apr 14

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

One of the country's leading Alzheimer's projects is in jeopardy

A pause to NIH funding has researchers scrambling for contingency plans at the University of Washington’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The center’s brain bank is preserving more than 4,000 bra...

www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Bess Frost

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Apr 8

The title tells the story and the 5 graphs amplify it
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

154 million lives and counting: 5 charts reveal the power of vaccines

But public-health specialists worry that misinformation and funding cuts could affect vaccination rates.

www.nature.com

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Mar 30

Does anyone know what kind of jellyfish this is? Spotted on a beach in Narragansett Bay.

Picture of jellyfish that looks like it contains human brain

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Frank Shewmaker @frank-shewmaker.bsky.social · Mar 17

NfL beats GFAP in a head-to-head FTD biomarker competition. Gendron et al. show plasma GFAP and NfL correlate with FTD disorder severity; however, NfL outperforms GFAP as a prognostic biomarker and potential susceptibility marker.

molecularneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Comprehensive cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light across FTD spectrum disorders - Molecular Neurodegeneration

Background Therapeutic development for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is hindered by the lack of biomarkers that inform susceptibility/risk, prognosis, and the underlying causative pathology. Blood gli...

molecularneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Maya Voichek @mayavoichek.bsky.social · Mar 17

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬
But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯
Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread 🧵👇

Drosophila follicle showing retrotransposons (pink & yellow) expressed in somatic cells infecting the oocyte

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Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Mar 12

We detected some positive effects of lamivudine (3TC) on biomarkers of neurodegeneration and are excited to continue therapeutic development in this area.

Bess Frost @bessfrost.bsky.social · Mar 12

Results from our AntiRetroviral Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease (ART-AD) clinical trial are available online today and will be included in the inaugural issue of npj Dementia.

rdcu.be/edfwq

A Phase IIa clinical trial to evaluate the effects of anti-retroviral therapy in Alzheimer’s disease (ART-AD)

npj Dementia - A Phase IIa clinical trial to evaluate the effects of anti-retroviral therapy in Alzheimer’s disease (ART-AD)

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Bess Frost

Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · Mar 6

One of the NIMH PIs whose name is the termination list: Sooyhun Lee, whose lab just published this beautiful @nature.com paper (that has received too little press because comms at NIH are down). Read! Cite!

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

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