Posts tagged with publication
Mark Leaver's study on temperature adaptation finds that Pristionchus is subject to natural selection by temperature
We have been interested in the effects of temperature on organisms for quite a while now in the lab, and that has been to a large extent Mark’s efforts! He took on a very different project to what we were used to and studied the effect of temperature on the nematode Pristionchus pacificus.
Our kinetochore paper is selected for the 65th birthday collection of JCB
For the collection celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Journal of Cell biology, our paper Functional Analysis of Kinetochore Assembly in Caenorhabditis elegans was selected for its contribution to “dissecting the mechanics of cell division”.
Enrichment of soluble tubulin at centrosomes
Recent work from Dresden (2017) suggests that centrosomes are condensates that nucleate in part by concentrating soluble tubulin. Here we show that indeed tubulin is extremely concentrated at centrosome in C. elegans embryos, suggesting that such a tubulin concentration could indeed play a key role in nucleation.
Small molecules that dissolve stress granules
In ALS, a mutated nuclear protein, FUS (fused in sarcoma), mislocalises to the cytoplasm and aggregates in stress granules. This leads to a liquid to solid transition of the granules and a consequent degeneration of the motor neuron (motor neuron die-back.)
Phase separation buffers noise in cells
In collaboration with the Zechner and Jülicher groups, we now show in theory and experiments that liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) can be a very effective mechanism to buffer protein concentrations against gene expression noise.
Rheology of protein condensates using optical traps
Louise and her coworkers now developed a novel method based on optical traps to study the frequency-dependent rheology and the surface tension of P-granule protein PGL-3 condensates as a function of salt concentration.
Phase Transitions form Virus Replication Compartments in Cells
Former postdoc Zoltan worked with the Whelan lab on VSV (Vesicular Stomatitis Virus). They show liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) seems to play an important role in host-pathogen interactions.
Jie's paper on the molecular grammar of phase separation is out!
In this work, Jie Wang and colleagues worked with a family of prion like proteins (FUS family proteins) and suggest rules that define their phase separation behavior. In cells, FUS family proteins can phase separate into liquid like organelles.
Check out our new user’s guide for phase separation assays with purified proteins!
The formation of membrane-less organelles and compartments by protein phase separation is an important way in which cells organize their cytoplasm and nucleoplasm. In vitro phase separation assays with purified proteins have become the standard way to investigate proteins that form membrane-less compartments.
Buffering disease: How the nucleus keeps proteins in check
Many age-related diseases affect the nervous system. One prominent example of a neurodegenerative disease is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The brain tissue of ALS patients typically shows aggregates of so-called prion-like RNA-binding proteins.
Richard's review on controlling non-membrane-bound organelles is out
The review discusses energetically favourable interactions that could drive condensation, and on the basis of that, make qualitative predictions about how cells may control compartmentalization by condensates.
Congratulations to Stephanie for her successful collaboration with the Zerial lab!
By investigating mitochondrial-endosomal contact sites we made the surprising observation that the small GTPase Rab5 translocates from early endosomes to mitochondria upon oxidative stress.
Congratulations to Titus and coworkers for his Science paper
Prions are self-propagating protein aggregates that can be transmitted between cells. The aggregates are associated with human diseases. Indeed, pathological prions cause mad cow disease and in humans Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Congratulations to Amayra Hernández-Vega and colleagues on their paper in Cell Reports!
In this work, we show that the protein Tau can phase separate into liquid-like droplets in vitro. These droplets can concentrate tubulin, which enables the polymerization of microtubule bundles that deform the droplets into rod-like structures.
Molecular biology: A liquid reservoir for silent chromatin
Tony and our postdoc Adam Klosin have written a Nature “News & Views” about chromatin compaction in liquid droplets based on two articles in the latest issue of Nature (Strom et al & Larson et al).
Congratulations to Jeff Woodruff and colleagues on their paper in Cell!
In this work, led by Jeff Woodruff, we used defined components to reconstitute a minimal centrosome in vitro that can nucleate microtubule asters. Our results suggest that the centrosome acts a selective phase that nucleates microtubules by concentrating microtubule polymerases and soluble tubulin.
Stem cells: the new "model organism"
In a new perspective published in Molecular Biology of the Cell, Tony Hyman and David Drubin “argue that combined advances in genome editing, stem cell production, and organoid derivation from stem cells represent a revolution in cell biology.”
PNAS Journal Club, ACS Spotlights, & Press for "ATP as a biological hydrotrope"
Our article “ATP as a biological hydrotrope” is featured this month as a Journal Club highlight in PNAS! Additionally, ACS Chemical Biology covered the article in its Spotlights section.
Two preprints: Tau phase separation; Parallel temperature adaptation
The Hyman lab is proud to publish preprints, which we post in parallel to journal submission. You can find our latest manuscripts on bioRxiv, and we welcome your feedback.
An aberrant phase transition of stress granules triggered by misfolded protein and prevented by chaperone function
New work from the Hyman and Alberti labs uncovers an important role for chaperone proteins in preventing aberrant phase transitions in stress granules. See a brief synopsis below and read the full paper online.
ATP as a biological hydrotrope
Congratulations to Avinash, Liliana, and colleagues on their paper in Science, in collaboration with Yamuna Krishnan from UChicago!
New Review: "Biomolecular condensates: organizers of cellular biochemistry"
Congratulations to our postdoc Kate Lee, Tony, and co-authors Salman Banani and Mike Rosen of UTSW on their new review
How did life begin? Dividing droplets could hold the answer. (Article in Quanta Magazine)
The story of our publication in Nature Physics, “Growth and division of active droplets provides a model for protocells,” has been picked up by Quanta Magazine (and re-published in Wired Magazine as well).
Cover of Trends in Molecular Medicine
Belated congratulations are in order to the authors and illustrators of the cover article for the September issue of Trends in Molecular Medicine!
New publication: Growth and division of active droplets provides a model for protocells
The latest work in our ongoing collaboration with the lab of Frank Jülicher is now out in Nature Physics.
New preprint: The centrosome is a selective phase that nucleates microtubules by concentrating tubulin
The Hyman lab is proud to publish preprints, which we post in parallel to journal submission. You can find our latest manuscript on bioRxiv, and we welcome your feedback!
On Research Funding and the Power of Youth
Read the full essay on the importance of funding young scientists, written for the President’s Column of the October issue of the ASCB newsletter by Tony Hyman, Ashad Desai, and Peter Walter.
Congratulations to Oliver, Jeff, and colleagues on their paper & video abstract in Biology Open, investigating regulation of centrosome assembly
In new work published this month in Biology Open, Oliver Wueseke, David Zwicker, Jeff Woodruff, and colleagues show that PKL-1 phosphorylation of the centrosome scaffold protein SPD-5 is a key regulatory step which determines centrosome size and density.
Read our reviews to learn about "Liquid-liquid phase separation in biology", "Are aberrant phase transitions a driver of cellular aging?", and "Biomolecular condensates: organizers of cellular biochemistry"
Everything you ever wanted to know about our current understanding of cytoplasmic organization by phase separation, from the physics behind it to the consequences for disease, in one comprehensive review
Congratulations to Shamba on his paper in Cell on the positioning of liquid-like compartments through an RNA competition mechanism. Plus - video abstract!
In a collaboration with the group of Frank Jülicher at the MPI-PKS, Shamba Saha and colleagues have discovered that an RNA-competition mechanism is at the heart of correct P granule positioning in C. elegans.
"No man is an island": an essay from the archives about the value of collaboration
In 1996, when Tony was a group leader at the EMBL, he wrote an essay for Current Biology entitled “No man is an island” on the importance of long-term collaboration and shared credit in science
An interview with Tony in "Lab Times", news magazine for the European Life Sciences
Read Tony’s interview with Lab Times, in which he discusses peer review, gender equality, open access, and more.
Congratulations to Elisabeth on her paper "Rheology of the Active Cell Cortex in Mitosis", out now in Biophysical Journal
New work from our postdoc Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich and colleagues investigates how the mechanical properties of the cell cortex change to prepare cells for division.
Congratulations to Elvan, Martine, and colleagues on their paper, "Amyloid-like Self-Assembly of a Cellular Compartment," out now in Cell
Elvan Boke and colleagues propose that the Balbiani body, a non-membrane-bound compartment in vertebrate oocytes, is formed by amyloid-like assembly of proteins containing prion-like domains.
New publication plus video abstract!
Congratulations to Mark on his paper in Biology Open examining the genetic link between temperature and fertility in nematodes.
"Priority of Discovery" published in eLife
Ron Vale and Tony just published a "Point of View" essay in eLife: Priority of Discovery in the Life Sciences. Read the full text for free on eLife
New paper submitted to arXiv - "Growth and division of active droplets: a model for protocells"
Here we examine the behavior of droplets in systems that are maintained away from thermodynamic equilibrium by an external supply of energy.
Congratulations to Julia Mahamid on her paper in Science visualizing the nuclear periphery in stunning new detail
This work utilizes cutting-edge developments in cryo-electron tomography to produce detailed 3D images of the nuclear periphery, revealing new information about its molecular organization.
"Priority of Discovery" - separating disclosure and validation
Today, Tony and Ron Vale published a white paper on the ASAPBio website in which they discuss the complexities of assigning "priority" for an original scientific discovery.
"Protein 'drops' may seed brain disease" - Article in Science about our FUS paper and others' recent work
A new Science “In Depth” article by Ken Garber tells the story of 4 recent papers (including our publication on the protein FUS) published in Cell and Molecular Cell
New publication: A human interactome in 3 quantitative dimensions
This is a truly impressive body of work which globally analyzes protein interactions in order to better understand protein networks and cell organization.
Write up of our paper on Alzforum: "ALS Protein Said to Liquefy, Then Freeze en Route to Disease"
There is an excellent write up of our recent paper on Alzforum by science writer Amber Dance, including interviews with the authors and others in the field.
Congratulations to Avinash Patel and Hyun Kate Lee on our latest Cell publication
Congratulations to Avinash Patel and Hyun Kate Lee on our latest publication in Cell, linking liquid-to-solid phase transition in cells to neurodegenerative disease. Check out the paper and video abstract!
New publications
Suppression of Ostwald ripening in active emulsions, plus methods for in vitro PCM assembly
Congratulations to Jeff & Oliver on their paper in Science
This work describes a novel in vitro system for studying regulated assembly of the pericentriolar matrix (PCM).
Cell Podcast, featuring Maria and Tony discussing their recent Cell Reports paper!
Begasse et al, Temperature Dependence of Cell Division Timing Accounts for a Shift in the Thermal Limits of C. elegans and C. briggsae, is featured in this month’s Cell podcast!
New Two Minute Talk! Watch Maria Begasse's video abstract for her new paper
The latest addition to our "Two Minute Talk" series is also our very first video abstract for a Hyman Lab publication (Begasse et al, 2015).
Congratulations to Maria on her paper
Congratulations to Maria on her paper, which illuminates how the temperature tolerance of cell division allows organisms to adapt to be viable at a higher temperature range
Two new publications: cell rounding and cell surface proteomes
Two new publications came out last month as a result of collaborations between Hyman lab members and other labs.
New publication stitches together EM slices into detailed mitotic spindle
This paper introduces a computational method which addresses the complex task of digitally aligning many serial electron tomography slices to create a complete, 3D image of spindles.
Congratulations to Elisabeth on her paper about the biophysics of mitotic cell rounding
Hyman lab postdoc Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich –you may remember her Two Minute Talk on Cell Rounding! — has just published a paper on the work she discussed in her video.
Congratulations to Oliver on his paper, which illuminates the state of PCM components in the cytoplasm
This work, led by graduate student Oliver Wueseke and just published in Molecular Biology of the Cell, shows that these PCM components interact only in the context of PCM assembly, and not in the cytoplasm.
More press for the Parkinson's paper
Our story on Parkinson’s and the glycolytic pathway has been picked up by several newspapers, radio and TV stations in Germany. It’s safe to say the word is out!
Congratulations to Yusuke for his paper on Parkinson's, mitochondrial potential, and the glycolytic pathway
This work links the metabolic products of the glyoxalase DJ-1 with mitochondrial health during cellular stress.
Congratulations to Jeff & Oliver on their contribution to "The centrosome renaissance"
This volume features 18 articles reflecting “direct and indirect input of some 50 leading scientists in the field” of centrosome biology. Jeff Woodruff, Oliver Wueseke, and Tony contributed a review
New publication: "Centrosomes are autocatalytic droplets of pericentriolar material organized by centrioles"
This work proposes “a theoretical description of centrosomes as liquid droplets,” drawing on our knowledge of phase separation in the cytoplasm.
New Publication: Coiled-Coil Proteins Facilitated the Functional Expansion of the Centrosome
The newest publication of the lab is out this month in PLoS Computational Biology! Michael Kuhn, first author, is a joint postdoc of the Hyman lab and the Beyer Lab at the BIOTEC.
Encouraging Innovation
Read Tony's perspective piece in the latest issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell about encouraging innovation in American scientific research by altering the funding system.
New publication on Sas-4
Members of the Hyman lab (Ina, Andrei, and Tony) are contributing authors on the latest paper from Jay Gopalakrishnan’s group, “Conserved TCP domain of Sas-4/CPAP is essential for pericentriolar material tethering during centrosome biogenesis."
News & Views and Science Art, too
Hyman lab postdoc Simone Reber has written an excellent review and perspective titled “On Spindle Length and Shape” for Cell News. Meanwhile, a fun article about artist Felix Scholz and his collaborations with the Hyman lab was published in Zeiss im Bild (ZiB) International.
New publication: Spatial organization of the cell cytoplasm by position-dependent phase separation.
During asymmetric cell division, cytoplasmic components are segregated to opposite sides of the cell. We discuss how the observed segregation can be achieved by a position-dependent phase separation mechanism controlled by a protein concentration gradient. We show that effects of even a weak gradient can be amplified by the phase transition to achieve strong segregation. We compare our theory to the segregation of germ granules observed during the divisions in the C. elegans embryo. Our study demonstrates how liquid-liquid phase separation can play a key role in the organization of the cytoplasm.
New Publication: XMAP215 activity sets spindle length by controlling the total mass of spindle microtubules.
Work in our lab has elucidated the detailed function of XMAP215, a processive microtubule polymerase.
New Publication
Using just two components, XMAP215 and EB1, we can achieve fast microtubule growth rates that are comparable to those observed in cells.
