Andy DeLaitsch
@delaitsch.bsky.social
110 followers 180 following 22 posts
antibodies, viruses, cryo-EM -- habitually curious -- BMB graduate student at Caltech
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delaitsch.bsky.social
Huge thanks to Florian Klein's lab for this excellent collaboration and to the various lab members who provided so much help seeing this through!
delaitsch.bsky.social
The third bNAb, 05_B08, does not have any insertions and does not contact the adjacent gp120. This antibody, exhibited just over 50% breadth, which is much lower than the others.
delaitsch.bsky.social
Another of the bNAbs, 01_D03, has two separate insertions and a 20-residue long CDRH3, which together allow it to contact conserved residues on the adjacent gp120. This antibody has a 4-residue long FWRH3 insertion in the same location as a 4-residue insertion in 3BNC60/3BNC117.
delaitsch.bsky.social
Interestingly, a crystal structure of this antibody alone revealed this protruding loop was pre-organized for binding, which is expected to lower the entropic cost for binding.
delaitsch.bsky.social
These bNAbs differ in the length and position of insertions. The best-in-class bNAb, 04_A06, has an 11-residue long FWRH1 insertion which manifests in a long CDRH1 that reaches over to contact highly conserved residues on the adjacent gp120.
delaitsch.bsky.social
There's a new best-in-class HIV-1 antibody out today! Happy to have contributed to the structural characterization of this, and two other distinct VRC01-class bNAbs isolated from a single individual. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
a, Schematics illustrating the position and length of FWRH1 and/or FWRH3 insertions of 04_A06 (left), 01_D03 (middle) and 05_B08 (right; top), EM maps showing side views of 04_A06, 01_D03 and 05_B08 bnAb Fabs in complex with BG505SOSIP.664 Env trimers (middle) and insets illustrating a close-up of bnAb interactions with the adjacent gp120 protomer (gp1202; bottom); HC, heavy chain; LC, light chain. b, Canonical interactions of CD4 and bnAbs to the CD4bs (04_A06, IOMA and VRC01) with Env gp120 D368, the F43 pocket and gp120 N280/R456. c, Interactions between the CDRH1s of 04_A06 (blue cartoon representation) and 1-18 (red cartoon representation) with the secondary (gp1202) Env protomer, shown as a surface colored by percent conservation. The inset (top right) shows the Env trimer–04_A06 complex as a surface representation for orientation. d, Crystal structure of unbound 04_A06 Fab (bottom) and inset highlighting the 04_A06 CDRH1, with electron density contoured at 1.5σ (top). e, Molecular surface representation showing the surface area buried by VRC01-class bnAbs (04_A06, 01_D03, 05_08, 3BNC117 and VRC01) on primary (gp1201) or secondary (gp1202) Env protomers (top). Listing of Protein Data Bank (PDB) accession codes, breadth (%), heavy chain insertion length and position, buried surface area (BSA) on gp1201 and gp1202 as well as total BSA for VRC01-class bnAbs (bottom).
delaitsch.bsky.social
I second this bet.

And then Shankar Balasubramanian for chemistry.
delaitsch.bsky.social
From what I gather, CXCR4 (previously called fusin) was identified as a co-receptor for HIV nearly 30 years ago (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8629022/). Nice to see a structure, and interesting to see it was done with HIV-2 gp120.
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
computingcaitie.bsky.social
I am excited to share our new preprint on the CAGE complex, a mysterious hollow protein complex that I first saw years ago while surveying Tetrahymena ciliary lysate www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #cilia #protistsonsky 🧬🧪
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
debnathghosal.bsky.social
📣 New paper alert! Just out in Cell Reports! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40644298/
Thrilled to share that we have discovered a brand-new anti-phage defense system! Bacteria have evolved various defense strategies (CRISPR etc) to counter phage attacks. We found a new one - fascinating and dramatic
⚔️🦠❄️🔬
delaitsch.bsky.social
“On Being The Right Size” is a true classic, highly recommend! www.phys.ufl.edu/courses/phy3...
www.phys.ufl.edu
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
alisterburt.bsky.social
If Management is the Only Way Up, We're All F'd - Rand Fishkin
sparktoro.com/blog/if-mana...
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
danielhurdiss.bsky.social
Latest preprint from the lab, many years in the making!

By combining #cryoEM with #AlphaFold3 modelling, we propose that norovirus NS3 forms a transmembrane RNA translocase.

This could have big implications for our understanding of viral replication & assembly (🧵)

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
delaitsch.bsky.social
Cool demo! Also, it’s nice to see your IgG binds bivalently!
delaitsch.bsky.social
Instant classic 🤯
briggsgroup.bsky.social
Mature #HIV-1 contains >2000 copies of “spacer peptide 2”, but we didn’t know why. We now see that SP2 binds the matrix protein and triggers the change into its mature arrangement. Summary video from @margotriggi.bsky.social
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
jacobparresau.bsky.social
My first project in the @elowitzlab.bsky.social is finally out in @cellpress.bsky.social! We explore how competitive, "many-to-many" dimerization allows complex, multi-input, and cell-type-specific biochemical computations🧵↓

doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Redirecting
doi.org
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social
MISO: Microfluidic protein isolation enables single particle cryo-EM structure determination from a single cell colony https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.10.632437v1
Reposted by Andy DeLaitsch
dereklowe.bsky.social
RSV vaccination attempts in young children have a troubled history. Which seems to be continuing:
Infant RSV Vaccination Trouble
www.science.org
delaitsch.bsky.social
100 years ago, De Broglie published his thesis, "On the Theory of Quanta". The ideas in it catalyzed the development of electron microscopy, though Ernst Ruska was apparently unaware of De Broglie's "material waves" when he and Max Knoll first started toying with the electron microscope.