Surojit Sural

The mind-bending power of placebo - Nature Medicine Studies with open-label placebos — sugar pills given without deception — suggest that the placebo effect is more psychologically complex than previously thought.

The mind-bending power of placebo

Studies with open-label placebos — sugar pills given without deception — suggest that the placebo effect is more psychologically complex than previously thought.

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

Mutation in IR or IGF1R produces features of long-lived mice while maintaining metabolic health

insight.jci.org/articles/vie...

Chemical modulation of gut bacterial metabolism induces colanic acid and extends the lifespan of nematode and mammalian hosts Gut microbes can influence aging, but how can this effect be chemically induced? This study shows that a low dose of cephaloridine triggers colanic acid production in commensal E. coli, extending the ...

Chemical modulation of gut bacterial metabolism induces colanic acid and extends the lifespan of nematode and mammalian hosts

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Our lab’s paper spearheaded by Keni and pushed to completion (and satisfaction by the reviewers) by Satish is finally out www.nature.com/articles/s41.... Was so fortunate to contribute to this project and learned a lot in both neuronal cell biology and cryoET. Also, Satish is on the job market!

Ectopic transcription due to inherited histone methylation may interfere with the ongoing function of differentiated neurons | PNAS How mutations in histone modifying enzymes lead to neurodevelopmental defects is unknown. To address this question, we took advantage of the invari...

Ectopic transcription due to inherited histone methylation may interfere with the ongoing function of differentiated neurons

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Make males live more than 400% longer and prevent sexual disfunction late in life?! We're down with it. Our latest preprint: Disruption of the insulin signaling pathway in C. elegans dramatically increases male longevity and enhances reproductive health late in life. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We’re excited to expand our partnership with @reviewcommons.org in a new collaborative model reshaping scientific publishing to streamline peer review, reduce redundancy, and improve the author and reviewer experience. Read more: buff.ly/h6SfMXF

And meet our Editorial Board! 👋

HLH-30/TFEB is necessary for chromatin reorganization and maintenance of cell quiescence during starvation in C. elegans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.31.685810v1

Tardigrade Dsup extends C. elegans life span by impeding mitochondrial respiration and promoting oxidative stress resistance Tardigrade Dsup extends C. elegans life span by reducing mitochondrial activity and enhancing stress resistance.

Tardigrade Dsup extends C. elegans life span by impeding mitochondrial respiration and promoting oxidative stress resistance

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Insulin and epidermal signals independently shape sexually dimorphic neurite branching in C. elegans | EMBO reports imageimageSexual state-regulated insulin signaling and vulval epithelial cues engage distinct pathways to remodel the F-actin cytoskeleton, thereby sculpting sexually dimorphic PVP branches that are i...

Insulin and epidermal signals independently shape sexually dimorphic neurite branching in C. elegans

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Leucine inhibits degradation of outer mitochondrial membrane proteins to adapt mitochondrial respiration - Nature Cell Biology Li et al. uncover a connection between metabolic cues and mitochondrial protein degradation, showing that specifically leucine stabilizes outer mitochondrial membrane proteins by inhibiting ubiquityla...

The study “Leucine inhibits degradation of outer mitochondrial membrane proteins to adapt mitochondrial respiration” in Nature Cell Biology 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Regional encoding of enteric nervous system responses to microbiota and type 2 inflammation

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Aversive Learning Induces Context-Gated Global Reorganization of Neural Dynamics in Caenorhabditis elegans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.31.685731v1

A positive feedback loop promotes the active internal state of the C. elegans egg-laying circuit How do neural circuits switch between distinct patterns of activity, known as “internal states”? Prashad et al. describe how PVW neurons, which lack any identified neurotransmitter, generate one of th...

A positive feedback loop promotes the active internal state of the C. elegans egg-laying circuit

www.cell.com/current-biol...

A default silencing mechanism restrains stress-induced genes in C. elegans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.22.683740v1

Phenotypic plasticity as the foundation of lifelong development Summary: This Hypothesis argues that phenotypic plasticity underlies lifelong development, linking regeneration, asexual reproduction, morphological change and reverse development to environmental res...

Phenotypic plasticity as the foundation of lifelong development

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

The seminal fluid protein SFP-1 regulates mated hermaphrodite aging and fat metabolism in C. elegans | The EMBO Journal imageimageMating influences physiological responses across species, but little is known about seminal fluid proteins driving such changes. This study characterizes the C. elegans seminal protein SFP-1...

The seminal fluid protein SFP-1 regulates mated hermaphrodite aging and fat metabolism in C. elegans

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

From MRI to Ozempic: breakthroughs that show why fundamental research must be protected In these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different.

The importance of basic research
“no one wants to see taxpayers’ monies being misspent. But world-changing discoveries often occur unexpectedly and are built on years…decades — of fundamental research that expanded our knowledge of the world”
🧪 #Research #Scicomm

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Programmed DNA elimination was present in the last common ancestor of Caenorhabditis nematodes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.23.681605v1

DAF-16/FOXO maintains genome integrity following genotoxic stress https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.27.684284v1

Metabolic regulation of behavior by the intestinal enzyme FMO-2 The intestinal pro-longevity enzyme fmo-2 interacts with tryptophan-derived neuromodulators to change behavior.

Metabolic regulation of behavior by the intestinal enzyme FMO-2

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...

First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience

Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E

@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social

Rewarding touch limits lifespan through neural to intestinal signaling | PNAS In multicellular organisms, sensory perception affects many aspects of behavior and physiology. Perception of environmental stressors like food sca...

'Here we find that the sense of touch interacts with nutritional state to modulate lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. Worms subjected to dietary restriction are shorter-lived when they perceive tactile stimuli that mimic bacterial food and/or protective soil.'
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The DEG/ENaC channel DEGT-1 is a proprioceptor of C. elegans foregut movement Bayer et al. show that the DEGT-1 DEG/ENaC channel is specifically expressed in C. elegans pharyngeal neurons and localizes to the pharyngeal basement membrane. They found that DEGT-1 is required in I...

The DEG/ENaC channel DEGT-1 is a proprioceptor of C. elegans foregut movement

www.cell.com/current-biol...

This study @science.org finds what appears to be the long-lost RNA subunit of C. elegans telomerase. The TERC RNA is encoded within an intron of a germline-upregulated gene, nmy-2🪱🔬🧬Nematode telomerase RNA hitchhikes on introns of germline–up-regulated genes | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

complicated diagram with red cancer cells, green T cells, and other immune cells in purple (dendritic cells). Shows mRNA vaccine priming immunity for checkpoint inhibitors.

Guess what? COVID mRNA vaccines don't just protect against COVID.

COVID mRNA vaccines also cause cancers to become sensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). buff.ly/GEfJ5Zl

Let's fund more mRNA research!

#medsky #oncsky 🛟😷🧪

A Nuclear Hormone Receptor nhr-76 Induces Age-Dependent Chemotaxis Decline in C. elegans

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

People with some cancers live longer after a COVID vaccine mRNA vaccines seem to boost the effectiveness of an immune therapy for skin and lung cancer ― in an unexpected way.

People with some cancers live longer after COVID vaccination 😮

mRNA vaccines can augment immune checkpoint inhibition efficacy for patients with skin or lung cancers - by globally boosting immune responses 💉🧪⚕️

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Grippen et al study:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Towards a reference cell atlas of liver diversity over the human lifespan Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Published online: 13 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41575-025-01114-3This Roadmap presents and outlines the creation of the Human Liver Cell Atlas as a reference map and resource for the liver community, providing an overview of the steps needed to build the atlas, as well as outlining the major challenges and potential of this venture.

ICYMI: New online! Towards a reference cell atlas of liver diversity over the human lifespan

The enteric nervous system In this primer, David Linden and Keith Sharkey discuss the development and cellular organization of the enteric nervous system, and its role in controlling gut motility and immune and mucosal function...

The enteric nervous system: a primer

www.cell.com/current-biol...