New specimen supports, designed by Chris Russo’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, solve decades-long question on how to use liquid helium in cryo-EM to reduce radiation damage and improve information capture.
A colder frontier: cryo-EM at liquid helium temperatures
Cytosol-adapted bacterium usurps host defence mechanism to evade LPS ubiquitylation
Felix Randow’s group, in the LMB’s PNAC Division, has identified the mechanism by which cytosol-dwelling Shigella flexneri bacteria use their effector protein IpaH1.4 to avoid LPS ubiquitylation by degrading the host E3 ligase RNF213.
Directional loading mechanism is used by SMC complex to capture and ingest DNA
Led by postdoc Frank Bürmann, Jan Löwe’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, and Mark Dillingham’s group at the University of Bristol, have identified the mechanism the bacterial SMC complex MukBEF uses to entrap DNA ahead of loop extrusion, and found how this pathway can be inhibited by a bacteriophage protein.
Writing the LINE-1s: How does LINE-1 remodel human DNA to insert its sequence throughout the genome?
Spearheaded by postdoc George Ghanim, Kelly Nguyen’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have investigated the molecular mechanisms which allow LINE-1 to propagate throughout the genome via retrotransposition during target-primed reverse transcription.
Asgard archaea proteins reveal evolutionary secrets of membrane remodelling
Studying Asgard archaea, Buzz Baum’s group in the LMB’s Cell Biology Division and Aurelien Roux’s group at the University of Geneva, provide insights into the earliest origins of ESCRT-III and reveal how its proteins work together to remodel membranes.
Newly identified quality control mechanism of RNA Polymerase II transcription
Ana Tufegdžić Vidaković’s group, in the LMB’s PNAC Division, have worked with Scott Berry’s group, at the University of New South Wales, to identify the mechanism cells use to regulate gene expression via control of quality and quantity of Pol II molecules.