LUMICKS

Live Webinar: Tuning CAR-T cells by targeting cancer-associated glycan in pancreatic cancer | Steven Park Sangwoo, PhD Feb 23, 2026 | Steven Park Sangwoo, PhD presents Tuning CAR-T cells by targeting cancer-associated glycan in pancreatic cancer

Solid tumors use a "sugar shield" (glycocalyx) to block immune cells. How do we break through?

Join our webinar to see how researchers from Harvard Medical School engineered "glyco-bridge" to enhance tumor recognition and killing, and validated by Cell Avidity measurements.

bit.ly/4rlQF5C

Please let us remind you it's the last day before the 1st abstract deadline of the single-molecule biology symposium SMBio26 in Sheffield, May 20th-21st. Don't be late!

Single molecules. Joint research.

www.lumicks.com/event/sympos...

Lumidyne Advanced Fluorophore Technologies - Discount Code Get 10% discount on Lumidyne advanced fluorophore dyes for optical tweezers (C-Trap) experiments. via the LUMICKS store. Photostable and self-healing.

One of the challenges in single-molecule biophysics is keeping your fluorophores stable long enough to capture the full story.

That's why we have partnered with Lumidyne to offer their specialized dyes.

Use code “LUMICKS” to enjoy 10% discount on all Lumidyne fluorephores. See info: bit.ly/463pZhQ

LUMICKS University Your gateway to mastering single-molecule experiments​

We are dedicated to making sure every LUMICKS user has the tools they need to succeed. That’s why we created LUMICKS University, your free, all-in-one gateway to mastering single-molecule experiments.

Join the 63% of C-Trap users who are already there:

www.lumicks.com/documentatio...

🎉This discovery provides the missing structural context for understanding cancer. Many mutations found in patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer map exactly to the spots where these proteins touch the DNA or each other.

Congrats to the team at The Francis Crick Institute!

🏗️
- The RAD51B Complex is the "Builder." It actively loads RAD51 bricks onto the DNA, building the repair filament.

- The XRCC3 Complex is the "Cap." The XRCC3 complex binds to the exposed 5’ end of the RAD51 filament and locks it in place. This was the study's structural breakthrough.

🔬Unlocking this secret required a combination of structural biology (Cryo-EM) and cutting-edge single-molecule technology (C-Trap). Using the C-Trap, the researchers observed a striking functional insight in real-time that traditional bulk assays missed:

🧬We were taught that the RAD51 paralogs, proteins essential in DNA repair and for preventing breast and ovarian cancers, work as a builder (BCDX2) and a helper (CX3).

This Science study from the lab of @westlabcrick.bsky.social and Simon Boulton has revealed a new machine: the XRCC3 Complex.

Cryo–electron microscopy visualization of RAD51 filament assembly and end-capping by XRCC3-RAD51C-RAD51D-XRCC2 Homologous recombination repairs DNA double strand breaks and protects stalled replication forks, but how the five RAD51 paralogs contribute to these processes remains unclear. Mutations in the RAD51 ...

We thought we knew how DNA repair worked. We were wrong.

See the new publication from @science.org shifts the paradigm: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

See comment for our digest:

2nd Flyer includes names & titles of the SMBio26 Sheffield selected speakers

Organized with the @sheffielduni.bsky.social team: Matt Newton, @alicepyne.bsky.social & Ruby Peters.

👏 Speakers include Gijs Wuite, @jwelburn.bsky.social, @slfort.bsky.social, @akellett.bsky.social, @michellepeckham.bsky.social & Aakash Basu.

Program & registration --> bit.ly/3NtxZlM

Flyer: join us this year May 20 - 21, 2026 in Sheffield, UK, for the SMBio26 in Sheffield. Abstract deadlines for talks or posters is January 31st.

Jan 31 is the abstract deadline for SMBio26 Sheffield. Join us again this year for the 3rd single-molecule research symposium in the UK!

Present your research alongside some of the most inspiring scientists in the field.

Some spots are still available!
Program & registration --> bit.ly/3NtxZlM

Text over a Christmas tree detail

May your science shine bright this time of year, and the next✨.

Happy holidays to the #singlemolecule community here on Bluesky, from everyone at LUMICKS.

Mutant KRAS peptide targeted CAR-T cells engineered for cancer therapy Benton et al. identify binders against common mutant KRAS neoantigens and create peptide-centric CAR-T cells (NeoCARs). NeoCARs demonstrate a robust anti-tumor response against cancer cells expressing...

Published in Cancer Cell🎉 researchers in Upenn finds high Cell Avidity unlocked superior solid tumor killing.

Targeting KRAS, team of Dr. Daniel Powell showed that strong and stable cell-cell interaction is critical for therapeutic function in the solid tumor context.
www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...

🔗Discover more Cell Avidity applications in cell therapy: www.lumicks.com/application/...
🔗Contact LUMICKS to implement Cell Avidity in your research: www.lumicks.com/contact

A major advance toward safer, next-generation CAR-T therapies powered by a deeper understanding of Cell Avidity.

🔗Abstract of the research at #ASH2025: meetings-api.hematology.org/api/abstract...

This enhanced binding boosts tumor killing but also drives on-target, off-tumor toxicities in healthy tissues.

Identifying Cell Avidity as the driver allowed the team to spot early warning signs and map a potential way to safely modulate CAR-T activity.

CAR T therapy saves lives. But some myeloma patients develop serious delayed toxicities months later.

At #ASH2025, Penn researchers led by @marcoruella.bsky.social revealed why:
👉 CD4⁺ CAR T cells show much stronger Cell Avidity to BCMA than CD8⁺ cells.

See more in the comment ⬇️

How do cells untangle their DNA under the mechanical stress of mitosis?

Last week, Dr. Erin Cutts (the University of Sheffield) shared her new discoveries using LUMICKS C-Trap single-molecule visualization.

If you missed it, it's now available on demand! www.lumicks.com/webinars/sin...

large crates packed with science equipment

Christmas came early! New science toy from @lumicks.bsky.social for @thernainstitute.bsky.social - very excited to get this all set up and operational.

Kinetic control of mammalian transcription elongation - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology By reconstituting and visualizing mammalian transcription elongation at the single-molecule level, Wang et al. dissected the effects of individual elongation factors on the speed of RNA polymerase II,...

A new NSMB study captured one of the clearest real-time views of how DNA transcribes to RNA with the LUMICKS C-Trap. 🧬
It reveals mechanism of action of the transcription machine: small disruptions can cause cancer, aging, etc.

Congrats to all the authors!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

⏳ Last chance to register! Tomorrow, Dr. Erin Cutts will reveal how she used the LUMICKS C-Trap to directly visualize TOP2A resolving DNA entanglements, a first-of-its-kind view of this key cancer drug target. Join her talk: bit.ly/48nOhoc

LUMICKS University Your gateway to mastering single-molecule experiments​

Introducing: 🎓 LUMICKS University 🎓

Your new gateway to mastering single-molecule experiments: tutorials, up-to-date documentations, scripts, and tips to help you learn faster and work smarter.​

👉 Check it out (free for LUMICKS customers): lumicks.com/documentatio...

Amazing to see the C-Trap in action! We’re proud that the C-Trap plays a part in supporting cancer research in
@freudlab.bsky.social lab at @kucancercenter.bsky.social! 🙌

LIVE Webinar with Dr. Erin Cutts of The University of Sheffield. Wedensday 3 December at 4:00 PM (UTC+1): Single Molecule Visualisation of Human Topoisomerase 2A Decatenation Reveals Substrate Requirements. Register now!

How do our cells untangle their DNA during division? What happens when this process goes wrong? In a new study, Dr Erin Cutts uncovers DNA entanglements during early mitosis in real time at the single-molecule level. Join the upcoming webinar to learn how Erin made these discoveries: bit.ly/48nOhoc

Are you working on cell therapy? Looking for a reliable indicator to predict patient outcomes from preclinical immune assays?

👉 Last chance to register for LIVE webinar by Prof. Peter Chockley on how Cell Avidity measurements predict leukemia patient survival after transplant: bit.ly/3JHMzou

Cryo–electron microscopy visualization of RAD51 filament assembly and end-capping by XRCC3-RAD51C-RAD51D-XRCC2 Homologous recombination repairs DNA double strand breaks and protects stalled replication forks, but how the five RAD51 paralogs contribute to these processes remains unclear. Mutations in the RAD51 ...

New! The teams of Simon Boulton and Steve West combined cryo-EM, biochemical assays and the C-Trap to "define the structure and function of a previously uncharacterized complex in the context of DNA double-strand break repair, and replication fork stabilization and restart".

bit.ly/43RG6xU

Can Cell Avidity help predict stem cell transplant success?

Prof. Peter Chockley (The Ohio State University) and his team used Cell Avidity to uncover a previously unknown NK cell–tumor interaction whose strength correlates with patient survival.

Curious? Register for the webinar: bit.ly/3Lov39i

Phase-separated NDF−FACT condensates facilitate transcription elongation on chromatin - Nature Cell Biology Li, Burgos-Bravo and colleagues report that NDF phase separation regulates FACT condensation, which enhances transcription by generating a localized biochemical environment that promotes nucleosome disassembly while preserving chromatin integrity by retaining histones.

Publication link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... - Phase-separated NDF−FACT condensates facilitate transcription elongation on chromatin.

Targeting FACT in cancer cells has shown efficacy in preclinical trials, but by which mechanism? Unclear.

Enter: this new study from the Bustamante Lab at UC Berkeley. It reveals that NDF-FACT condensates form on transcribing PolII and enhance nucleosome disassembly and PolII progression.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Rational CAR design: integrating affinity and tonic signaling. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. The success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for hematological malignancies has not yet translated into long-term elimination of solid tumors, indicating the need for adequate tuning ...

TODAY: Join Dr. Barden for his talk on innovative techniques underlying rational CAR design. Register for a live seat or post-event recording: bit.ly/464vLyZ