Wilson Lab

Ribosome transfer via tunnelling nanotubes rescues protein synthesis in pancreatic cancer cells Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is considered as one of the deadliest types of cancer. Tunnelling nanotubes (TNTs) are thin, membranous, intercellular communication structures obse...

Our significantly expanded preprint is out. In it we show that pancreatic cancer cells can transfer ribosomes via tunnelling nanotubes and rescue protein synthesis when co-cultured with cells with impaired ribosomal biogenesis.
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(Includes some #bayesian #rstats inspired by @rmcelreath.bsky.social)

A programmed decline in ribosome levels governs human early neurodevelopment - Nature Cell Biology Ni, Wei, Vona and colleagues use human brain organoids to dissect patient AIRIM variants associated with neurodevelopmental features. A subset of variants impaired ribosome production and protein synt...

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

Ever wondered why some antibiotics are made by Streptomyces on agar plates but not in liquid cultures? Read this work on redox control of antibiotic biosynthesis. Led by katienoble241.bsky.social and Rebecca Devine, and in collaboration with @barriewilks.bsky.social

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Portrait of Rachel Green, an RNA biologist at Johns Hopkins University

“What a [sunburned] cell is trying to do is make decisions about whether to live or die based on how damaged the DNA is… but amazingly, it’s the RNA that signals that. That’s the remarkable observation.” — Rachel Green, biologist at Johns Hopkins University.
www.quantamagazine.org/rna-is-the-c...

Structures of Naked Mole-Rat, Tuco-Tuco, and Guinea Pig Ribosomes: Is rRNA Fragmentation Linked to Translational Fidelity? Ribosomes are central to protein synthesis in all organisms. Among mammals, the ribosome functional core is highly conserved. Remarkably, two rodent species, the naked mole-rat (NMR) and tuco-tuco dis...

nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

A rapid, simple, and economical method for the isolation of ribosomes and translational machinery for structural and functional studies Nature Communications - Here, the authors present a method to rapidly isolate actively translating ribosomes in a time- and cost-effective manner using poly-lysine. The method is compatible with a...

Our RAPPL purification of ribosomes and associated material is out. I am really proud of this study in collaboration primary with Pavlovic-Djuranovic lab, as well as Jovanovic and Hashem Labs. This method aims to replace 60 years old purification of ribosomes by sucrose cushions

rdcu.be/ezlhg

Escherichia coli with a 57-codon genetic code The near-universal genetic code uses 64 codons to encode the 20 canonical amino acids and protein synthesis. Here we designed and generated Escherichia coli with a 4 Mb synthetic genome in which we re...

Escherichia coli with a 57-codon genetic code | Science. Syn57, uses 55 codons to encode the 20 canonical amino acids. #rnasky #microsky 🦠 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Jennifer Doudna is named 2026 Priestley Medalist The award recognizes the biochemist for discoveries on ribozyme function and CRISPR gene editing, and international science leadership

@acs.org is recognizing Jennifer A. Doudna with the Priestley Medal for her discoveries on ribozyme function, the Dicer RNase enzyme, double-stranded RNA processing, and CRISPR gene editing, along with her impactful international science leadership. cen.acs.org/people/award... #chemsky 🧪

Check out our new preprint on the discovery of a molecular switch in NAC that mediates nascent chain sorting on the ribosome and prevents mitochondrial protein mistargeting by SRP. A great collaboration with the Shan Lab @Caltech and the Qi Lab @UVA: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A complex between IF2 and NusA suggests early coupling of transcription-translation - PubMed The main function of translation initiation factors is to assist ribosomes in selecting the correct reading frame on an mRNA. This process has been extensively studied with the help of reconstituted i...

A complex between IF2 and NusA suggests early coupling of transcription-translation… pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40715203/

Nice review on RNase R and RNA degradation… www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Cryo electron microscopy and 3D image processing (CEM3DIP) This EMBO Practical Course is for participants who are interested in analysis of macromolecular structures in vitro and in situ using cryo-electron microscopy single particle reconstruction and t…

Get hands-on training on #cryofreezing, #DataAcquisition and more at EMBO Practical Course "Cryo electron microscopy and 3D image processing" in New Delhi, IN, 21 Feb–3 Mar 2026

Registration by 15 Sep
Abstract submission by 30 Sep

meetings.embo.org/event/26-cem...
#cryoEM #EMBOCryo3D #EMBOevents 🧪

Sub-3 Å resolution protein structure determination by single-particle cryo-EM at 100 keV Cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) has transformed structural biology by providing high-resolution insights into biological macromolecules. We report s…

Now out in Structure: Paper on high-resolution #cryoEM using the 100 kV Tundra cryo-TEM by Dimple Karia, Adrian Koh, @abhaykot.bsky.social, @lingboyu.bsky.social, @landerlab.bsky.social and many others. Happy to have contributed to this effort. Check it out:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Free tRNALeu shows flexible variable arm and CCA end, reshaped by LeuRS and ribosome binding #tRNA #StructuralBiology bit.ly/45PxJF5

New from our lab in @narjournal.bsky.social:
We dissect the folding dynamics of a fundamental element of RNA secondary structure—a stem-loop—at single-molecule and microsecond resolution.
doi.org/10.1093/nar/... 1/5

Just finished this wonderful book by @jacindaardern.bsky.social. If only more politicians would be like this brave woman, the world would be so different! Read this book and be inspired for a kinder future.

Editor's Pick: Shen, Ye et al. review recent literature on the role of bacterial ribosome heterogeneity on facilitating rapid response to stress.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

A new protein-dependent riboswitch activates ribosomal frameshifting Programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) is a ubiquitous translational control mechanism in RNA viruses, allowing them to change the relative abundance of proteins encoded in different reading fram...

New preprint alert! 🚨👇 I'm delighted to share the latest research from @jemmabetts.bsky.social
in our group: ‘A new protein-dependent riboswitch activates ribosomal frameshifting’. Huge congratulations to Jemma for the first manuscript of her PhD! ✨

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Finally out!
I’m thrilled to share our new paper (Wolin et al., Cell 2025).

This paper describes SPIDR, a high-throughput method for mapping RBP binding sites.

By combining #SPIDR with #cryoEM, we identified the exact binding site of LARP1 within the #mRNA channel of the 40S ribosomal subunit.

How many (distinguishable) classes can we identify in Single Particle Analysis? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.14.664719v1 #cryoEM

Portrait of RNA biologist Rachel Green at John Hopkins University.

“What a [sunburned] cell is trying to do is make decisions about whether to live or die based on how damaged the DNA is… but amazingly, it’s the RNA that signals that. That’s the remarkable observation.” — Rachel Green, biologist at Johns Hopkins University.
www.quantamagazine.org/rna-is-the-c...

Structure of an archaeal ribosome reveals a divergent active site and hibernation factor - Nature Microbiology Sequence and structural analyses reveal a divergent peptidyl transferase centre and a hibernation factor in archaea.

Out now:

Structure of an archaeal ribosome reveals a divergent active site and hibernation factor

@jhdcate.bsky.social @banfieldlab.bsky.social @diptinayak.bsky.social & co

#microsky

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

Structure of an archaeal ribosome reveals a divergent active site and hibernation factor - Nature Microbiology Sequence and structural analyses reveal a divergent peptidyl transferase centre and a hibernation factor in archaea.

Structure of an archaeal ribosome reveals a divergent active site and hibernation factor | Nature Microbiology https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-025-02065-w

Preprint from our collaboration with the labs of Gerry Wright and Shura Mankin identifying the first translation inhibitor binding to the E-site of the bacterial ribosome… www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

New paper out in Mol Cell, where we show how N-myristolytransferases lipidate proteins on the translating ribosome!
Continuing our successful collaboration with DeuerlingLab @uni-konstanz.de & Shu-ou Chan @caltech.edu
@snsf.ch @ethz.ch
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

New review from our lab! Compartmentalization during bacterial spore formation. Focusing on latest discoveries in Bacillus subtilis #subtiwiki

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Independent Fellowship in Plant-Associated Microbial Interactions | John Innes Centre An exciting opportunity for an Independent Fellowship in Plant-Associated Microbial Interactions has arisen at the John Innes Centre. To read the full job description for this role…

New Independent Fellowship position in Microbiology to launch your lab in our department @johninnescentre.bsky.social (UK). We are conducting a broad search in the area of plant-associated microbial interactions. Message me if you have any questions.

Apply here: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/in...

Distant ribose 2'-O-methylation of 23S rRNA helix 69 pre-orders the capreomycin drug binding pocket at the ribosome subunit interface pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40626557/ #cryoEM

Passage of ribosomes through micro-sprayer increases functional activity – Implications for activity assays in time-resolved cryo-EM This study examines the validity of an assay that is used to report on the retainment of functional competence by ribosomes as they pass a micro-spray…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Dynamics and Energetics of Ribosomal Translation

🐦 For the early birds and #ribosome #MD and #ML enthusiasts #EBSA2025: Don't miss 📌 Lars' @larsvbock.bsky.social oral presentation (O-16.1) tomorrow at 8:30 during session 16 in hall 1: "Combining #Simulations and Machine Learning with Experiments to Explore Ribosomal #Translation" 🔗 t1p.de/ccmwk