Alexis Lomakin, Ph.D.

Cell size matters: a unifying theory across the tree of life Cell size shapes how organisms interact with their environment, yet our understanding of these effects remains fragmented. We synthesise these effects into a Theory of Optimal Cell Size (TOCS), predic...

www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

#Mifobio2025

Focus on the module 5:
👉 Physical measurements, control and handling -Mechanobiology

We are delighted to welcome Professor @ivatolic.bsky.social
Ruđer Bošković Institute

Lecture : “Mechanobiology of the Mitotic Spindle”

👉 imabio-cnrs.fr

#GDRimabio #microscopy #biological_imaging

Congrats!!!👏👏👏

After some limbo, paper #1 finally accepted (i.p.). Watch out for a comprehensively updated version of pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39711539/.
coming soon. My gratitude to the reviewers for their thoughtful suggestions and critical but fair review. Kudos to Joe and Zaza for all the hard work!

Bonnie Bassler Princeton University Quorum sensing across domains: From viruses to bacteria to eukaryotes Monday 13th October at 11am (BST)

Don’t miss this upcoming #LMBSeminar from Bonnie Bassler!
Join us at 11am on Monday 13th October to hear all about ‘Quorum sensing across domains: From viruses to bacteria to eukaryotes’
More details: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

The nuclear pore complex connects energy sensing to transcriptional plasticity in longevity Zhou et al. identify an ancient role of the nucleoporin NUP50 in pro-longevity responses to nutrient stress, independent of its role in nuclear transport. The authors show that nutrient stress activates NUP50 post-translationally, rewiring metabolism and promoting longevity through its intrinsically disordered region, coupling energy sensing to protective transcriptional responses.

The nuclear pore complex connects energy sensing to transcriptional plasticity in longevity

Cell cycle-regulated tug-of-war between microtubule motors positions major trafficking organelles https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.01.679872v1

USP9X is a mechanosensitive deubiquitinase that controls tumor cell invasiveness and drug response through YAP stabilization Biber et al. use melanoma cells on collagen matrices of varying stiffness, combined with an activity-based ubiquitin probe and proteomics, to identify DUBs affected by mechanical cues. They reveal USP...

USP9X is a mechanosensitive deubiquitinase that controls tumor cell invasiveness and drug response through YAP stabilization: Cell Reports www.cell.com/cell-reports...

A network of P-body and Whi3 condensates adjusts cell fate decisions to cellular context Peskett et al. show that P-bodies and the Whi3 protein form distinct condensates as budding yeast cells age. Mixing of these condensates promotes senescence entry and primes cells to abort the pheromo...

A network of P-body and Whi3 condensates adjusts cell fate decisions to cellular context: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Bioelectricity in Morphogenesis Bioelectricity is likely as old as life itself. From the moment the first proto-cell was enclosed in a lipid bilayer, a membrane potential arose. Thus, one can expect that bioelectrical activities inf...

New Review! #devbiol #bioelectricity #CellBiology #tissueregeneration

In our new @annualreviews.bsky.social piece, we explore how bioelectricity is generated, sensed & translated into responses that sculpt tissues, guide growth & enable tissue regeneration.

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Looking forward to Florida, where my brilliant PhD student Zaza Gelashvili and I are giving back-to-back talks. Among other things, we'll talk about our work on www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5..., which will hopefully come out soon in much improved versions!

Nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation of MCIDAS couples transcription with massive de novo centriole biogenesis in multiciliated cells How multiciliated cells (MCCs) generate hundreds of centrioles for multiciliation has remained an unresolved problem in cell biology. Lu et al. show that the MCC “master” transcriptional regulator, MCIDAS, not only functions in the nucleus to induce genes for multiciliation but also undergoes cytoplasmic translocation to organize explosive centriole biogenesis.

Nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation of MCIDAS couples transcription with massive de novo centriole biogenesis in multiciliated cells

When BCE (before the confocal era) turned into CE (confocal era) - 1987

Amino acids bind to phase-separating proteins and modulate biomolecular condensate stability and dynamics - Nature Communications Biomolecular condensates (BCs) are ubiquitous compartments that regulate key functions in cells. Authors demonstrate that phase separation is suppressed with glycine by using model heterotypic condensates composed of nucleophosmin 1 and ribosomal ribonucleic acid.

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

Why building a network is key for early career scientists Anthony (Tony) Patelunas is an Early Career Leadership Program alum who served as co-chair of the Early Career Scientist Career Development Subcommittee during his time in the program.   The ECLP,…

Building a network is key for early career scientists—and GSA’s Early Career Leadership Program can help. Develop leadership skills, connect with peers and mentors, and invest in your future. Read more: buff.ly/VomVyLl

Applications close TODAY! 🔗⬇️

Promotional graphic for a special issue of Journal of Cell Science titled 'Cell Biology of the Nucleus.' Guest Editor: Abby Buchwalter. Submission deadline: 3 November 2025. The image features a stylized cell with a bright pink, heart-shaped nucleus on a black background. Text includes a call for papers.

We're still accepting submissions for our next special issue:
Cell Biology of the Nucleus
Guest edited by @abbybuch.bsky.social and Megan King @luskinglab.bsky.social.
Submission deadline: 3 November
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/nu...

#cellbiology #nucleus #notforprofit #freetopublish

Turning back the clock on stem cells. 🕒

Did you see the preLight @vibhasingh.bsky.social posted last week highlighting the #preprint of Eva Mejía-Ramírez & team?

#preLight: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/t...

This work was also discussed in a recent webinar ⬇️👀

From Vienna to New York, a family rug became a witness to history, survival, migration, and change.

Eve Marder draws connections between personal stories of displacement and the essential role of migration in sustaining science today.
buff.ly/smgHkJ1

This Wed, we'll have Dr. Allan Drummond (U Chicago) giving a talk on "Rethinking stress granules" in the Physical Properties of the Cytoplasm series. Join us. More info, visit cytophys.org

This meant that degradative machineries may be in charge:
✔️ differential abundance & stability of proteasomal particles
✔️ higher proteasomal activity in 🐭 compared to 👤 embryonic spinal cord

Korsten et al. employ live cell imaging and expansion microscopy to show that nuclear polyQ aggregates associated with #HuntingtonDisease induce nuclear envelope (NE) blebbing and cause NE ruptures. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

📕 In our Intermediate Filaments collection: rupress.org/jcb/collecti...

How do cells navigate up gradients of adhesive proteins?
🤔

Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood

We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients

👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A new #CryoET study shows that the protein ZapD helps organise FtsZ filaments into stable ring-like structures in building bacterial division machinery.
buff.ly/saLPqJM

It’s a new term: here are 99 lab hacks Nature asked contributors, editors and working researchers to share their best advice for scientists.

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

Join us next Tuesday (30/09) for talks by @gautamdey.bsky.social @embl.org & Andreas Heim @uni-konstanz.de & Simonetta Piatti @crbm-montpellier.bsky.social

No research, no answers.
IMBA Scientific Director Elly Tanaka is among five renowned ÖAW scientists acting as ambassadors of the “No research, no answers” campaign in Austria - aimed to highlight the crucial role of science in advancing society.
More about the campaign: http://imba.science/3KgScd7

we found that nuclear envelope rupture triggers rapid DIAPH3 formin influx to generate a actin mesh to prevent further chromatin leakage from damaged nuclei. thanks to Pitter Huesgen @degradomics.bsky.social and @cibss.bsky.social, @chrkam.bsky.social

Years ago we discovered that missense mutations in homomeric proteins often induces their supramolecular assembly, as in the 📽️👇 - Are such aberrant assemblies of *folded* proteins toxic? Surprisingly, NO. Cells are amazingly robust systems! Paper now online @molsystbiol.org doi.org/10.1038/s443...

The excellent Lucija Mijanovic & I write a piece musing on electrotaxis, collective migration, and @calinacopos.bsky.social & the Mogilner lab's nice PNAS paper.

Have a look!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lpaB3QW8S...

Mechanical forces stimulate Golgi export Human cells face a wide range of external mechanical stimuli that vary with cell type, state, and pathological conditions. The rapidly growing field of mechanobiology investigates how cells sense and ...

🧵 I've been meaning to write a #Skytorial on our recently posted prepring in which we show evidence that the Golgi 🥞 is a mechanoresponsive organelle. Extracellular mechanical forces also tune Golgi export capacity! 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...