Schmitt-Lab@HHU

crTP X-ray structure

✨X-ray crystallography reveals surprising twist in how proteins enter the unique photosynthetic organelles of Paulinella. The chromatophore targeting peptide (crTP) folds into a 3D structure, hinting that folded proteins cross peptidoglycan and inner membrane. (1/2)
academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

New publication in J Mol Biol
New insights in to the function of the CLD and the entire hemolysin secretion machinery. Thanks to Holger Gohlke’s lab and CSS for the wonderful collaboration. Congrats to Sakshi and Cigdem!

Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for genetic code expansion - Nature Bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters can be utilized and engineered to transport non-canonical amino acids into Escherichia coli for highly efficient synthesis of proteins with novel func...

🚨Our paper is out! 🥳
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for efficient genetic code expansion.
Many congrats to everyone involved - a multi-year effort led by @taruniype.bsky.social @maxfottner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

it all started years ago with a failed experiment
🧵👇 1/9

The text reads: “Resistance to antibiotics is widespread and increasing, threatening treatment of common infections. 1 in 6 bacterial infections worldwide were resistant to antibiotics in 2023.”

New WHO report finds 1 in 6 bacterial infections were resistant to antibiotic treatments.

Data from over 100 countries warns that rising resistance to essential antibiotics poses a growing threat to global health.

Read more 👉bit.ly/438Ta1u

This is going to be fun - we are really pleased with the program - there is some really exciting science on the menu! Do sign up!

Photo of a lab tour. Kids are wearing lab coats and glasses and Sophie is showing agar plates

Picture of a lecture hall, two people in lab coats are experimenting. White smoke can be seen

Picture of lecture hall. One person is standing on a table with a star firecracker

The team behind Türen auf mit der Maus. 11 people smiling for a selfie, plush animals are shown into the camera

Successful #türenauf mit der Maus Event 2025 @hhu.de done and dusted! Thanks to all the helpers @sophieguti.bsky.social @joguti.bsky.social Theo, Sarah, Suny, Lukas, Tom, Rachel, JJChemistry, Hannah and to @markussuta.bsky.social for lending some of his group members to give additional lab tours!

Molecular structure of the ESCRT III-based archaeal CdvAB cell division machinery www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.15.676241v1 #cryoEM

Leaflet-specific phospholipid imaging using genetically encoded proximity sensors - Nature Chemical Biology An approach combining bioorthogonal chemistry with genetically encoded fluorogen-activating proteins enables subcellular imaging of phospholipids and glycans, as well as the visualization of lipid tra...

Very excited to share new work out today in @natchembio.nature.com on a new approach - FACES - for selectively imaging of phospholipids and other biomolecules at spatial resolutions down to individual membrane leaflets (1/n) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Science is real

New endowed professorship strengthens climate research at the University of Basel The University of Basel is setting up a new endowed professorship at the Biozentrum to make fundamental discoveries at the interface between biophysics and climate-relevant environmental biology. This...

🧪 The University of Basel is setting up a new endowed professorship in #ClimateBiophysics at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch, funded by the Georg H. Endress Foundation. This new professorship strengthens climate research @unibas.ch. www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news/detail/...

Was lucky to see this presented at the NYC cryoEM meeting earlier this year - super cool stuff!

Coming out in @NaturePlants today (rdcu.be/eBScJ): The mechanism for essential amino acid transport across the chloroplast envelope. We identified RETICULATA1 (RE1) as a new type of transport protein. #PlantScience #AminoAcidTransport #Chloroplasts. @franzikuhnert.bsky.social @weberlab.bsky.social

We are hiring a Postdoc in membrane protein cryo-EM at the University of Georgia. Looking for candidates with expertise in membrane protein purification and biochemistry. Fully funded for up to 5 years. Join us in Athens, GA. Apply: camilo.perez@uga.edu

Researchers have developed a #DeepLearning system called BioEmu that rapidly generates diverse protein conformations, enabling fast, accurate insights into protein flexibility and function.

Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/3JdQVD4

A generative deep learning approach to de novo antibiotic design A generative AI platform is developed for de novo antibiotic design, yielding lead compounds with selective antibacterial activity, distinct mechanisms of action, and in vivo efficacy against multidru...

AI-generated de novo antibiotic compounds show activity against drug-resistant bacteria #NBThighlight www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Peptidoglycan–outer membrane attachment generates periplasmic pressure to prevent lysis in Gram-negative bacteria - Nature Microbiology Outer membrane attachment to peptidoglycan enables periplasmic pressure to build up and counter cytoplasmic turgor pressure, preventing lysis during osmotic challenges in Escherichia coli.

#microsky
We challenge the long-standing view that peptidoglycan alone protects cells from bursting.

Our study shows that the periplasm — enclosed by OM–PG connections — acts as a pressure buffer essential for osmoprotection in Gram-negative bacteria.

📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

CRISPR system reprograms bacteria to disarm deadly toxin Gene-editing technique disables Shiga toxin genes in <i>E. coli</i>

Scientists have developed a new gene-editing approach that reprograms pathogens to stop producing toxins and instead make a helpful molecule. cen.acs.org/biological-c... 🧪

Group Leader – Molecular Systems Biology Unit Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Molecular Systems Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group, addressing original biological ...

Ready to lead pioneering research that bridges systems-level investigations of biological systems to molecular mechanism? The EMBL Molecular Systems Biology Unit in Heidelberg is hiring a Group Leader!

Neue #DFG-Analyse zur Fächerbeteiligung Exzellenzclustern innerhalb der #ExStra: Data Story zeigt breite fachliche Beteiligung; 90 % aller an dt. Universitäten vertretenen Lehr-/Forschungsbereiche sind vertreten. Hohe Interdisziplinarität; KI ist zentrales Thema ➡️ fcld.ly/exstradatast...

Proud to share our first lab pre-print: “SND3 is the membrane insertase within a fungal multipass translocon” where @tzujingyang.bsky.social solved the structure of a ribosome-associated SND3-translocon complex involved in ER membrane protein insertion ➡️ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Structural insights into the substrate binding mechanism of the class I dehydratase MadB - Communications Biology Class I lantibiotic dehydratases play a key role in the biosynthesis of ribosomally synthesized peptide antibiotics. We present structural insights into MadB in two states, revealing the conformationa...

Congrats to @schmitt-lab.bsky.social & Co. for having that out! 👏🥂 Happy to contribute a few lines to the story
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Key numbers in cell biology

Having a sense of scale helps to think more rigorously and realistically about biological systems.

Very curious to hear your thoughts on this! How much focus should there be on (clear? correct?) English in publications?
Chemsky 🧪

Emmy Noether Programme: in English Friday, 18. July 2025, 10-11:30 a.m. CET

#Prospects PhDs & postdocs of all disciplines note: Would you like to lead an independent junior research group? In our online talk you will get first-hand information about the aims and requirements of the DFG Emmy Noether Programme and more. Link to the meeting will be published here: fcld.ly/enp

Exclusive: Famed protein structure competition nears end as NIH grant money runs out Agency silent on funding renewal for contest that inspired creation of AIs that predicted how proteins would fold

Critical Assessment of protein Structure Prediction (CASP) — the competition to predict protein structure that helped fuel AlphaFold — will run out of funding from the NIH and UC Davis in a few weeks.

Engineering of ATP synthase for enhancement of proton-to-ATP ratio - Nature Communications FoF1-ATP synthase converts proton motive force into ATP, with the H+/ATP ratio typically ranging from 2.7 to 5. Here, the authors engineered this enzyme to form multiple peripheral stalks, achieving a...

Engineered ATP synthase with multiple a-subunits!

Engineering of ATP synthase for enhancement of proton-to-ATP ratio
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Applications are now open! We are recruiting 20 Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas. We're looking for early-career researchers with strong scientific merits and future potential.
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...

Postdoctoral fellowship in protein biochemistry and biophysics - DTU Chemistry Do you want to contribute to an exciting chemical biology project? This postdoctoral fellowship deals with the synthesis of probes aimed at studying cholesterol transport proteins in health and diseas...

I am looking to hire a protein #biochemist, #biophysicist or structural biologist: efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

- 2-year position working on lipid transport proteins.
- Experience in protein expression, purification and biochemical and biophysical assay development.
Please share!

InterPro just got one of its biggest updates ever.

Now with 1.8 billion AI-driven protein annotations, AlphaFold-based TED domains, and viral proteins from the Big Fantastic Virus Database (BFVD).

See it all at www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro

🖥️🧬

@interprodb.bsky.social

Substrate-induced assembly and functional mechanism of the bacterial membrane protein insertase SecYEG-YidC The universally conserved Sec translocon and the YidC/Oxa1-type insertases mediate biogenesis of alpha-helical membrane proteins, but the molecular basis of their cooperation has remained disputed over decades. A recent discovery of a multi-subunit insertase in eukaryotes has raised the question about the architecture of the putative bacterial ortholog SecYEG-YidC and its functional mechanism. Here, we combine cryogenic electron microscopy with cell-free protein synthesis in nanodiscs to visualize biogenesis of the polytopic membrane protein NuoK, the subunit K of NADH-quinone oxidoreductase, that requires both SecYEG and YidC for insertion. We demonstrate that YidC is recruited to the back of the translocon at the late stage of the substrate insertion, in resemblance to the eukaryotic system, and in vivo experiments indicate that the complex assembly is vital for the cells. The nascent chain does not utilize the lateral gate of SecYEG, but enters the lipid membrane at the SecYE-YidC interface, with YidC being the primary insertase. SecYEG-YidC complex promotes folding of the nascent helices at the interface prior their insertion, so the examined cellular pathway follows the fundamental thermodynamic principles of membrane protein folding. Our data provide the first detailed insight on the elusive insertase machinery in the physiologically relevant environment, highlight the importance of the nascent chain for its assembly, and prove the evolutionary conservation of the gate-independent insertion route. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, https://ror.org/018mejw64, Ke1879/3, 267205415 (CRC 1208) European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, CRYOTRANSLATION

Very special feelings to announce this one... A project that started like 10 years ago is reaching the finish line, ready to shine. In a dream-team with @beckmannlab.bsky.social we solved the long-chased structure of the active membrane protein insertase SecYEG-YidC
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...