Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Matthias Soller

RNA Society @rnasociety.bsky.social · 3d

RNA journal increases to over 5.0! Publish your research in RNA today!

1 2 13

Reposted by Matthias Soller

François Leulier @francoisleulier.bsky.social · 2d

If you want to know more about the science behind the latest @nobelprize.bsky.social in Physiology and Medecine awarded to the "FoxP3-Tregs" field have a look at this:
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medic...
A very detailed account!

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”

www.nobelprize.org

1 5

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Richard Benton @bentonlab.bsky.social · 3d

Having personally sworn for years that insects don’t use GPCRs for odour detection, Suguru Takagi (@sugurutakagi.bsky.social) discovers that, in fact, they sometimes do …

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A GPCR signaling pathway in insect odor detection

Odor detection differs fundamentally in vertebrates, which use G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and insects, which employ ion channels. Here, we report the first evidence for a GPCR defining tunin...

www.biorxiv.org

4 28 50

Matthias Soller @matthiassoller.bsky.social · 5d

We do this with fixed fly tissue that does not express the protein. Works great!

Victor Tatarskiy @greenrat.bsky.social · 6d

Neat trick if you polycolonal ab's suck. Incubate them with fixed cells with a KO of your protein of interest, then spin. Protocol here: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/ass...
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky

On the left - western blot of B16F10 cells wt and KO for CDK8. Our in house produced antibodies give a lot of unspecific bands. On the right same probes with antibodies preincubated with fixed CDK8 KO cells - there is a specific band and faint unspecific bands, which can be probably eliminated with increase of amount of KO cells.

1 1

Matthias Soller @matthiassoller.bsky.social · 5d

Drosophila first: the fly brain is all mapped. Same for the genome - Drosophila was the template.
www.science.org/content/arti...

China launches ambitious collaboration to map primate brains—including ours

25-year plan will tap brain-mapping prowess in two dozen countries to visualize the organ in unprecedented detail

www.science.org

1

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 9d

Intriguing links between autophagy and local protein synthesis at synapses! Preprint from Michael Kreutz and colleagues.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Amphisome biogenesis couples synaptic autophagy to local protein synthesis

Summary Amphisomes are hybrid organelles that result from fusion of late endosomes with autophagosomes. Here, we report that amphisomes containing BDNF/TrkB and capable of signaling are formed at pres...

www.biorxiv.org

3 5

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Lucas Farnung @lucas.farnunglab.com · 12d

🚀 Ordering lab supplies just got way easier in our lab.
We built a workflow (github.com/farnunglab/N...) where tapping an NFC tag on a reagent bottle automatically triggers an order request in Quartzy. No more scribbling notes or hunting for a computer. Here’s how 👇

1 9 29

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Ule Lab @ulelab.bsky.social · 14d

Collective challenges need collective solutions. Happy to share the insights we've gained from the way our cells handle this: www.nature.com/articles/s41... and its summary www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09....

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

7 14

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Matthew Freeman @mjafreeman.bsky.social · 16d

Fingers crossed: this could make a big change in the perception and real substance of UK science and innovation (and all other talent...)

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 17d

UK explores plan to drop visa fees for top global talent on.ft.com/46stNZq

UK explores plan to drop visa fees for top global talent

PM’s team wants to make it easier to attract people who have attended top universities as US moves in opposite direction

on.ft.com

3 13

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Elizabeth Rideout @ejrideout.bsky.social · 18d

I have gotten a bit behind at sharing the lab’s latest work - this paper is now published - check it out! www.cell.com/cell-reports... Long story short: insulin is the major determinant of female fat storage, with a relatively minor effect on males.

2 27 59

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Timothy Bredy @twbredy.bsky.social · 19d

This was huge effort that involved many great friends and colleagues, including Sourav Banerjee, Howard Chang, C.K. Chen, Xiang Li, Wei Wei, @irinavoineagu.bsky.social, @anggonolab.bsky.social, and the entire lab @QueenslandBrainInstute.

Timothy Bredy @twbredy.bsky.social · 19d

How do neurons deal with fitting large regulatory proteins into small spaces to control plasticity and memory? By generating micropeptides via local translation of circRNAs, of course! Here’s to shedding new light on the ‘dark’ proteome in the brain.

www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Local translation of circular RNAs is required for synaptic activity and memory

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are enriched in synapses and implicated in cognitive processes, and recent studies have shown that circRNAs can encode micropeptides, which suggests that there may be novel sy...

www.biorxiv.org

1 3

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Ryusuke Niwa @ryuniwa.bsky.social · 21d

Discovering Genes Essential for Stress-Induced Death in Insects | Research News - University of Tsukuba www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/research-...

Discovering Genes Essential for Stress-Induced Death in Insects | Research News - University of Tsukuba

Image by Oren Ravid/ShutterstockResearchers at University of Tsukuba identified genes and signaling pathways that trigge

www.tsukuba.ac.jp

1 2

Reposted by Matthias Soller

The Venkatesh Lab @venkatesh-lab.bsky.social · 22d

We are excited to share the Venkatesh Lab’s first publication in collaboration with @michellemonje.bsky.social team uncovering how neuronal activity influences the progression of small cell lung cancer #SCLC in the lung and brain. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Neuronal activity-dependent mechanisms of small cell lung cancer pathogenesis - Nature

Glutamatergic and GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid-producing) cortical neuronal activity drives proliferation of small lung cell cancer via paracrine interactions and through synapses formed with tumour...

www.nature.com

3 14 44

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Andreas Prokop @poppi62.bsky.social · 24d

Wow, this paper provides crucial understanding of local translation and processing of transmembrane proteins in axons, one of the big mysteries that have haunted the field for a long time!!!!!!!! Fantastic!!!!!!!! Nguyen et al., 2025, bioRxiv 2025.09.09.674816ff. -- doi.org/10.1101/2025...

3 18 61

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Felix Schmidtner @felixschmidtner.bsky.social · 28d

Wegen den Einschnitten der US-Regierung fürchten sich Wissenschaftler, dass die Flybase, eine zentrale wissenschaftliche Datenbank für die Forschung an der Fruchtfliege Drosophila melanogaster, verloren gehen könnte. Mein Text dazu in der heutigen F.A.Z.

Bild einer Zeitung. Ein Bild mit einer fetten Fliege mit roten Augen. Überschrift: Notruf der Fliege. Lead: Erkenntnisse aus der Drosophilaforschung werden in einer Datenbank gesammelt. Deren Finanzierung steht vor dem Aus. Wegen Trump.

1 9 12

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 26d

Thanks to journalist @felixschmidtner.bsky.social for bringing the plight of the key scientific database @flybase.bsky.social to a German/European audience
www.faz.net/aktuell/wiss...

Die wichtigste Datenbank über die Fruchtfliege steht vor dem Aus.

Forscher weltweit sind auf eine zentrale Datenbank mit Erkenntnissen zu Drosophila angewiesen. Deren Finanzierung steht vor dem Aus. Wegen Donald Trump. Warum uns das nicht gleichgültig sein sollte.

www.faz.net

1 9 16

Matthias Soller @matthiassoller.bsky.social · 26d

I'll join next time.

1

Matthias Soller @matthiassoller.bsky.social · 26d

Published in the summer holidays: Roles for TET in speckles. Thanks @cardosolab.bsky.social @deepanshund.bsky.social @roliarnold.bsky.social and the others for this exciting collaboration.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/...

TET dioxygenases localize at splicing speckles and promote RNA splicing

The dynamic regulation of RNA metabolism plays a crucial part in cellular function, with emerging evidence suggesting an important role for RNA modifications in this process. This study explores th...

www.tandfonline.com

1 3

Matthias Soller @matthiassoller.bsky.social · 26d

Here is a detailed protocol"
bmcmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Gap-repair recombineering for efficient retrieval of large DNA fragments from BAC clones and manipulation of large high-copy number plasmids - BMC Methods

Background Bacterial high-copy number plasmids are the preferred DNA source for reporter constructs used in cell transfection experiments and making transgenic invertebrates to study gene expression, ...

bmcmethods.biomedcentral.com

1

Matthias Soller @matthiassoller.bsky.social · 26d

We do gap-repair recombineering. Can go up to a 22 kb plasmid. Key: set the incubator at 35ºC. It the temperature goes above 37ºC (which it does when set at 37ºC) the heat shock response triggers recombination.

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

2 2 9

Reposted by Matthias Soller

eric lai @lucksmith.bsky.social · 27d

New #miRNA paper from Lai lab!! 🧬🔥

some think this field, despite recent Nobel to Ambros and Ruvkun, doesn't have much surprises left. but, do we EVEN KNOW WHAT a miRNA precursor LOOKS LIKE? we found some conserved miRNA hairpins up to 10x longer than suspected. this is mir-12, just bonkers! 1/n

1 16 29

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Emilia Dimitrova @edimitrova.bsky.social · 29d

Double celebration on our floor @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social with @guifengwei.bsky.social from the Brockdorff lab and Dounia and Sherry from Fisher lab having their papers published today! And I hear there is more to come...

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

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

m6A and the NEXT complex direct Xist RNA turnover and X-inactivation dynamics - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

Wei et al. show that the primary function of m6A on the nuclear long noncoding RNA Xist, a master regulator of X inactivation, is to promote RNA degradation. Xist turnover is mediated by the nuclear e...

www.nature.com

9 25

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Alper Akay @alperakay.bsky.social · 29d

If you have missed our work on how U6 m6A modification helps select different splice sites in humans and worms, you can still read it here 🙄 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

U6 snRNA m6A modification is required for accurate and efficient splicing of C. elegans and human pre-mRNAs

Abstract. pre-mRNA splicing is a critical feature of eukaryotic gene expression. Both cis- and trans-splicing rely on accurately recognising splice site se

academic.oup.com

4 12

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Stirling Churchman @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social · 29d

Our new pre-print from the Greenberg and Churchman labs shows that activity-dependent modulation of RNA stability is a major, and underappreciated, mechanism of gene regulation in neurons. Tutorial below! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/11)

HuD controls widespread RNA stability to drive neuronal activity-dependent responses

Neuronal activity shapes brain development and refines synaptic connectivity in part through dynamic changes in gene expression. While activity-regulated transcriptional programs have been extensively...

www.biorxiv.org

1 22 66

Reposted by Matthias Soller

Alexey Amunts @amunts.bsky.social · Sep 3

The scent of silence! Cool research in Cell @cellpress.bsky.social to brighten up your day🌹. The mystery of why some roses are fragrant and others aren't has an answer. It's called SCREP: a rose-specific gene that evolved from non-coding DNA 16.8 million years ago 👇

2 30 64