Gerben Vader

Organizational principles governing assembly and activation of the meiosis-specific Red1-Hop1-Mek1 complex In mitosis, sister chromatids are preferred repair templates for homologous recombination, whereas in meiosis interhomolog-based repair is promoted. How this switch, which is a defining event in sexua...

Revised version of our original Red1-Hop1-Mek1 story, together with @jweir.bsky.social lab now online @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social

Check it out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The hunt for common tumor antigens Pancreatic cancer cells express cryptic peptides shared across patients that may be therapeutic targets

Pancreatic cancer cells express cryptic peptides shared across patients that may be therapeutic targets, according to new research in Science.

Single kinetochores execute an ordered series of molecular events as the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint is silenced https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.23.655733v1

A Conserved Disruption of the Nuclear Permeability Barrier in Meiosis is Controlled by a Kinase-Phosphatase Pair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.14.654091v1

astounding yet also a reminder of how diverse life is -- often there are many different solutions to the same problem, but we're only aware of the ones on-hand (usually our own)

Excited to share our latest from my postdoc at @mskcancercenter.bsky.social in the Sfeir Lab, in collaboration with the Simon Powell Lab! We uncovered a novel genome repair mechanism in human cells: RNA-templated DNA double-strand break repair (RT-DSBR). (1/5)

Multitasking Proteins: Exploring Noncanonical Functions of Proteins during Mitosis This review provides a comprehensive overview of how mitotic cells drive the repurposing of proteins to fulfill mitosis-specific functions. To ensure the successful completion of cell division, the cell strategically reallocates its “workforce” by assigning additional functions to available proteins. Protein repurposing occurs at multiple levels of cellular organization and involves diverse mechanisms. At the protein level, proteins may gain mitosis-specific functions through post-translational modifications. At the structural level, proteins that typically maintain cellular architecture in interphase are co-opted to participate in mitotic spindle formation, chromosome condensation, and kinetochore assembly. Furthermore, the dynamic reorganization of the nuclear envelope and other organelles relies on the temporary reassignment of enzymes, structural proteins, and motor proteins to facilitate these changes. These adaptive mechanisms underscore the remarkable versatility of the cellular proteome in responding to the stringent requirements of mitosis. By leveraging the existing proteome for dual or multiple specialized roles, cells optimize resource usage while maintaining the precision needed to preserve genomic integrity and ensure the survival of the next generation of cells.

Super excited to share my latest review!
In this piece, I dive into how cells cleverly reuse proteins for mitosis-specific tasks — a fascinating and still underexplored area.
There’s so much more to uncover, and I hope this review sparks new ideas and discussions!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres The evolutionary origins of the genetic point centromere in the brewer's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a member of the order Saccharomycetales, are still unknown. Competing hypotheses suggest that t...

It’s out! The evolutionary origins of yeast point centromeres uncovered!

“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”

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

Looking for a student or postdoc!

Want to combine evolutionary analysis + structural modeling with in vitro biochemistry & fluorescence microscopy?
Help us uncover new protein-protein interactions — from in silico to in vitro.

Join us at @istaresearch.bsky.social 👉 looselab.org
🧬💡🔬🎡

A must for all DNA repair aficionados!

Egmond DNA Repair Meeting → April 19–24, 2026 🇳🇱
✔️ Confirmed top speakers
✔️ Ample opportunities for talks & posters

Don’t miss it: dnarepairmeeting-egmond2026.com

In vitro reconstitution by Peter Bieling, William Bement and collaborators reveals mechanistic principles of Rho GTPase activity patterning at cellular membranes, and stage-specific roles of regulators
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

New preprint drop! Check out work from @jimmy-ly.bsky.social et al for how protein isoforms generated by alternate translation initiation create dual localization, contribute to mitochondrial function, and are mutated in disease. "Blue-tutorial" thread below.

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

Cohesin as an essential disruptor of chromosome organization Cohesin is a multi-subunit molecular machine that is able to create lateral chromatin loops within a linear chromosome fiber. Despite intense study, a…

Wonderful, thought-provoking review by Sir Adrian Bird on cohesin loop extrusion as disrupter of chromatin organisation rather than generator. Great read!

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

Visualizing homology search in living cells https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.01.640932v1

Alert to the #darkproteome community 👇

Here's a great article to get you fast-tracked into the world of #microproteins.

Such a pleasure to work on this piece with @nature.com, @sebastiaanvheesch.bsky.social, Marie Brunet, Jonathan Weissman and Jon Mudge.

#genomics
#bioinformatics
🧬 💻
#proteomics

The Dutch Cancer Biology Meeting will be held on March 13th-14th 2025, at Hotel De Werelt in Lunteren. The meeting will feature two keynote speakers: Christian Reinhardt, and @fmattiroli.bsky.social. Other talks by early-career researchers. Register here: oncodeinstitute.nl/form/2025-du...

Exploring Meiosis in Brown Algae: Meiotic Axis Proteins in the model brown alga Ectocarpus Most extant eukaryotic systems share core meiosis-specific genes, suggesting meiosis evolved only once in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). These genes have been characterized as master regu...

New preprint! How does meiosis work in non-model organisms? Together with Susana Coelho at the MPI for Biology Tübingen @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social , we took a look at the proteins of the meiotic axis in the brown alga Ectocarpus www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Molecular mechanism targeting condensin for chromosome condensation | The EMBO Journal imageimageHow the condensin complex is recruited to genomic domains to promote their condensation is incompletely understood. This study identifies a generalised molecular mechanism by which condensin...

Happy to see this out before the end of the year. Fantastic work by Lily Wang with help from our wonderful technologists in the Discovery Platform Proteomics Core managed by Christos Spanos. Great publishing experience @embojournal.bsky.social www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

‘Dark proteome’ survey reveals thousands of new human genes Database confirms that overlooked segments of the genome code for a multitude of tiny proteins

Do you want to go further with your proteomics? Looking for something new in cancer?

Check out microproteins!

Thanks to @science.org for featuring this work, in collaboration with @sebastiaanvheesch.bsky.social, #HUPO, @gencodegenes.bsky.social

www.science.org/content/arti...

🔎 microprotein
🧬 💻

Reposting an old meme.
My greatest contribution to the field #meiosis4ever #meiosis4eva

Great line up for EMBO meiosis 2025!

I gladly bring this meeting to your attention so that you can mark dates in your calendar in case your are interest. Additional information will follow. Please circulate if possible.

Chromosome Segregation and Aneuploidy Aneuploidy is a hallmark of cancer and developmental disorders such as Down syndrome. Understanding how cells accomplish faithful chromosome segregation and how chromosomal instability (CIN) impacts …

Announcing the next EMBO Chromosome Segregation and Aneuploidy Meeting! Italy 2025. Please register and join us for another exciting and friendly meeting in a beautiful location meetings.embo.org/event/25-ane...

Meiosis: Exploring diversity to discover the fundamentals Meiosis is an essential cell division for sexual reproduction and fertility across eukaryotes. It involves a series of tightly regulated processes, including entry into meiosis, pairing of homologs, …

Official website for EMBO meiosis 2025 is live now! Looking forward to seeing you in Switzerland next June! #meiosis4eva

meetings.embo.org/event/25-mei...

The peer-reviewed version of our paper is out! Thanks to all co-authors, editor and reviewers for the smooth process 🤓🎉
And don’t miss the chromatin haiku!

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Repeat-based holocentromeres of the woodrush Luzula sylvatica reveal insights into the evolutionary transition to holocentricity Nature Communications - Unlike most eukaryotes, Luzula sylvatica assembles holocentromeres along the entire chromosome length. Here, the authors combine genome assembly, epigenetic and cytogenetic...

I am very happy to share our recent publication 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕-𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝑳𝒖𝒛𝒖𝒍𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 in Nature Communications @natureportfolio.bsky.social
rdcu.be/dZk7W

Nuclear release of eIF1 globally increases stringency of start-codon selection to preserve mitotic arrest physiology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.06.588385v1 Regulated start-codon selection has the potential to reshape the proteome through the differential p

Nuclear release of eIF1 globally increases stringency of start-codon selection to preserve mitotic arrest physiology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.06.588385v1

Join me for a countdown to a cool new preprint exploring alternative translational control during the cell cycle. Interphase cells can survive translation inhibition for days (see below). Translation levels decrease in mitosis, but did you know that mitotic cells strongly require new translation?

My group is moving! As of today, we will start at the Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, in Utrecht, The Netherlands (research.prinsesmaximacentrum.nl/en). Many thanks to all our former colleagues at Amsterdam UMC. The work continues!

Want to know how the abundance or phosphorylation of your favourite budding yeast protein changes during meiosis? Check out our new searchable online tool created by the talented Lori Koch meiphosprot.bio.ed.ac.uk. Also check out the preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... coming to @emboj soon!