Dmitri Ermolenko

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

1/14

We combine our yeast genetics experiments with the massive body of literature data to make a case for 40S scanning of 5’UTRs of by 1D diffusion (finalised version): m.rnajournal.cshlp.org/content/31/1...

I think it's important to reach out to your own community and explain what the funding cuts mean in practice.

🧪what with the demolition of #NIH funded #research, where, dare I ask, are our friends from #bigpharma? y'all good? mooched enough off of public-access NIH-funded research? Stocked up with PhD level scientists who were trained on NIH training grants to tide you over until Academia comes back?

1. Been working harder than I ever have in my life to protect institutions and people I cherish.
2. Shoke my head frequently as the level of cowardice revealing itself from organizations and individuals who somehow believe that keeping their heads down will somehow protect them.
3. Rinse and repeat

Thanks to all of the NIHers and their friends who reached out to me. I am still here (DM me or Signal jeremymberg.78)

I still have a very incomplete picture but based on what I have been told, the damage to NIH and to many wonderful people who work(ed) there is/was impossible for me to imagine

1/n

We also found that extending unstructured 5’ UTR has a modest effect on translation indicating that 40S scanning is not a rate limiting step of protein synthesis in yeast.

40S ribosomal subunits scan mRNA for the start codon by one-dimensional diffusion During eukaryotic translation initiation, the small (40S) ribosomal subunit is recruited to the 5ʹ cap and subsequently scans the 5ʹ untranslated region (5ʹ UTR) of mRNA in search of the start codon. ...

Using reporters with long unstructured 5’ UTRs, we examined which initiation factors are limiting for 40S scanning in yeast. Our results&literature led to the model that 40S scans 5’ UTRs for the start codon by one-dimensional diffusion rather than by helicase-driven translocation.

Our latest work is out in Nature today! Using smFRET, we directly visualized recruitment of the eIF4F complex to the 5' cap of eukaryotic mRNAs and formation of an activated mRNA. Our findings reveal new and surprising roles for each eIF4F component. 1/3 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congratulations!