Jeremy Barr

... and don't miss the opportunity to meet @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social and other great speakers at the upcoming Seeon Conference in June ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ www.dghm.org/seeon/

This is a great insight and quote! Thanks for sharing

Structure and infection dynamics of mycobacteriophage Bxb1 Mycobacteriophage Bxb1 is a well-characterized virus of Mycobacterium smegmatis with double-stranded DNA and a long, flexible tail. Mycobacteriophages…

Hurray, it is finally out! Meet bacteriophage Bxb1 - the subject of my first full-phage cryo-EM study. My structures are beautifully complemented by the Park Lab’s cryo-ET analysis, shedding light on mycobacteriophage structural changes during infection.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The T-series bacteriophages are reductionist models that continue to shape the field - Nature Microbiology Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series phages and how they have shaped the field.

The T-series bacteriophages have impacted my career and are microbes our lab's research continues to use as model organisms.

You can read more as part of @natmicrobiol.nature.com 'Microbes Matter' series below:

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

The T-series bacteriophages are reductionist models that continue to shape the field - Nature Microbiology Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series phages and how they have shaped the field.

🚨Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying #bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series #phages, and how they have shaped the field.

#MicroSky #PhageSky

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

GitHub - shandley/awesome-virome: A listing of software, tools and databases useful for virome analysis A listing of software, tools and databases useful for virome analysis - shandley/awesome-virome

Check out this list of awesome #virome tools and be sure to add yours!

github.com/shandley/awe...

#phagesky #microsky

📣📣Are you looking for a postdoc? 📣📣

Does a EU or Horizon Europe assoc country (eg UK, S Korea) seem like a good destination?

These fellowships a great funding option for anyone in the 🌎

👀 Check them out - next call opens 8 May

🧪 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post...

Programs: Einstein A Go-Go – 9 February 2025, Einstein A Go-Go — Triple R 102.7FM, Melbourne Independent Radio An episode of Einstein A Go-Go on 9 February 2025

Our lab was featured on the RRR Radio show @einstein_agogo to talk about recent phage research and its application to treat antibiotic-resistant infections

Have a listen!
www.rrr.org.au/explore/prog...

Fernando Gordillo Altamirano, Natasha Smith, @drshanerrr.bsky.social

Our 2024 monthly issue covers at Nature Microbiology (www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/):

Happy New Year! 🎉 We are excited to officially kick off the countdown to the #VoM2024 conference (July 15)!

Looking forward to insightful discussions, ground-breaking research, and fostering collaborative connections.

Abstract submissions are open: vom2024.org

⏰ bit.ly/VoM2024count...

Did you know that VoM is heading down under? 🌏🦘

Join us for the Viruses of Microbes (VoM) Conference, set against the stunning backdrop of Cairns, QLD - July 15-19th, 2024 🏝️

Follow us for news & updates! 📅

#VoM2024

TWiV 1067: Heads or tails, you win a phage lunch
Pheaturing #phage work from the @ivanerill.bsky.social team as well as the @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social lab on the @microbetv.bsky.social This Week in Virology #podcast plus a shoutout to David Goodsell #sciart
#phagesky #microsky

✨#VoM2024 KEY DATES ✨
Head over to our website to check out the key dates and add them to your calendar 📅

Time to start thinking about your #abstract submissions!

vom2024.org/key-dates

For microbiologists seeking faculty jobs: Rutgers has 4+ faculty searches in microbiology right now! Please share widely and see below for details and links on the individual positions 1/5

🚨 Please share 🚨 The Suez Lab @JohnsHopkins is recruiting! We're seeking a senior bioinformatician with established (papers/preprints) experience in #microbiome #metagenomics. The position can be local, fully remote, or hybrid.

DM me for questions, apply here: jobs.jhu.edu/job/Baltimor...

Apologies, I copied the wrong link, here it is

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Thanks! Still learning this platform, not that it's much different 😅

Apologies the link I copied did not work... This one should

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Technology Network: "Mammalian cells eat phages to survive"

www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/n...

Science News: "Human cells slurp up phages for energy"

www.sciencenews.org/article/huma...

Thanks to all our co-authors and collaborators on this project!

Here are a few press releases on our study -

New Scientist: "Our cells may boost their health by eating phages"
www.newscientist.com/article/2399...

Placing this conclusion more broadly - our field is on the precipice of increased application of phages to human patients in an attempt to combat superbug infections.

Our work suggests we should remove our blinders to explore potential symbiotic phage-mammalian interactions.

Once these phages are internalised, a proportion of them are likely degraded and metabolised by the cell.

From a macromolecular stance, phages are condensed packets of nucleotides wrapped in a protein shell.

Thus, they may provide an exogenous source of key nutrients.

So, what does this all mean?

Well, firstly, these are early results and we need to screen additional phage and more life-like cells.

But, it does suggest that our own cells are tuned to interact with and uptake phage See our recent review on this topic:

www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1...

We then confirmed these phenomena using a cell proliferation assay.

In vitro mammalian cells treated with phage broadly showed an increase in their proliferation over 72 hours, which correlated with a prolonged G0/G1 cell cycle growth phase.

Next, we used extensive antibody microarrays from
Kinexus, consisting of >1000 antibodies targeting broad cellular pathways

Phage treatment to cells induced broad and extensive protein-phosphorylation events leading to increases in cellular metabolism, growth and proliferation

We first show that the application of purified T4 phage across three mammalian cell lines led to rapid uptake and internalisation, but importantly, did not trigger a pro-inflammatory response.

This suggests that cells carefully traffick and process phage particles.

Our latest work, out today in PLOSBiology suggests that not only do mammalian cells absorb bacteriophages, but they appear to use them as a resource to enhance growth!

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

This work was led by PhD Marion Bichet and is out on World Phage Week! #WorldPhageWeek

Bland and white ink drawing of a cartoon phage chained to an unhappy bacterium

#inktober 2023 Day 21, Chains. Phages rely on their hosts for survival and cannot replicate without them. #phage #SciArt