Lee Machado

Inside Health - Unlocking the mystery of Epstein-Barr Virus - BBC Sounds How is EBV triggering autoimmune disease?

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Why academics should do more consulting — and how to make it work Encouraging academics to act as advisers to outside organizations is the most effective way to serve society’s needs.

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

Happy Christmas from our lab. Some projects funded, others not; some papers out, some still need to be written, some PhDs completed and others just beginning. We take the highs with the lows, let's see what 2026 brings...🎄🎅🌲

When goodbye comes too soon: How to wrap up science projects quickly Science projects are designed and funded on the scale of years, so what happens when researchers need to finish prematurely? This Community Page discusses solutions for quickly documenting partially f...

"Due to a variety of circumstances...many science projects will never be finished, despite years of invested resources and effort. By carefully and strategically documenting scientific work achieved, components of unfinished projects can be salvaged and preserved to benefit future researchers." 🧪

Looking forward to popping over for a nose at some point! 😉

Human Evolutionary Genetics Human Evolutionary Genetics reaches its third edition at a time when sequencing and analyzing whole genomes, modern and ancient, has become rapid, affordable, and routine. These advances have led to a...

Academics! Delighted to announce that the new 3rd edition of Human Evolutionary Genetics is now available to book inspection copies. Available to buy January 9th. 1/5
www.routledge.com/Human-Evolut...

YouTube video by Anglia Ruskin University Sweet signals, bitter truths: taste sensing and cardiovascular disease

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9Vo...

A fab inaugural from Prof Havovi Chichger. Sweet signals, bitter truths: taste sensing and cardiovascular disease youtube.com/live/f9VoIBqPP… via @YouTube

Epstein–Barr virus exploits desmocollin 2 as the principal epithelial cell entry receptor - Nature Microbiology A genome-wide CRISPR screen helps to identify the Epstein–Barr virus receptor desmocollin 2 for primary epithelial cell infection. Additional infection assays revealed that desmocollin 3 also aids infection.

Read the associated research article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Identified receptors shed light on Epstein–Barr virus infection - Nature Microbiology Epstein–Barr virus is associated with cancer and implicated in autoimmune diseases. Three studies reveal desmocollin 2 and R9AP as receptors for Epstein–Barr virus infection, highlighting new avenues for targeted therapies.

#News&Views

Epstein–Barr virus is associated with cancer and implicated in autoimmune diseases. Three studies reveal desmocollin 2 and R9AP as receptors for Epstein–Barr virus infection, highlighting new avenues for targeted therapies.

#MicroSky 🦠

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

Epstein–Barr virus exploits desmocollin 2 as the principal epithelial cell entry receptor - Nature Microbiology A genome-wide CRISPR screen helps to identify the Epstein–Barr virus receptor desmocollin 2 for primary epithelial cell infection. Additional infection assays revealed that desmocollin 3 also aids infection.

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

Looking forward to using our new Seahorse across a bunch of projects for metabolic studies…just having to re-learn my undergraduate biochemistry though 😉

A unified model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene involvement in cancer: context-dependent tumour suppression and oncogenicity

🔦 buff.ly/lBnkwMP

🥼 @drleemachado.bsky.social

#CancerResearch #DuchenneMuscularDystrophy

Great to catch up with my fab friend Tim (from our undergraduate days) who was recently promoted to Prof. in Structural Biology at the University of Birmingham.

Quite amusing sitting on a train overhearing two international scientists converse about cholera toxins, phage, E.Coli, yeast two hybrids…must be terrifying if you’re a non-scientist passenger sat in earshot 😂

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

David Baltimore, Nobel-Winning Molecular Biologist, Dies at 87

David Baltimore, Nobel-Winning Molecular Biologist, Dies at 87 www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/s...

FEBS Press We propose a context-dependent model where the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene acts as a tumour suppressor in aggressive tumours and as an oncogene in less aggressive ones. We propose this mod...

8/8 Key message:
🧬 DMD is not uniformly oncogenic or tumour suppressive.
🧩 Isoform Dp71ab may be central.
📈 Any therapeutic approach must consider tumour context.

febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

7/8 For me, this project reflects pivoting in research. Learning bioinformatics during COVID provided the tools to take this forward, and collaborating with @Weekademia, it has now matured into a published study and a new framework to functionally test.

6/8 Supporting evidence:
Aggressive cancers often downregulate/mutate DMD.

Less aggressive cancers retain intact DMD.

So, DMD’s role is context-dependent.

5/8 From this, we propose a dual model:

In aggressive cancers, DMD acts as a tumour suppressor.

In less aggressive cancers, DMD can play an oncogenic role.

4/8 Pathway analysis revealed two contrasting patterns:

High DMD protective → ECM integrity & adhesion preserved.

High DMD harmful → morphogenesis & cellular plasticity promoted.

3/8 Isoform analysis was crucial:

Dp71ab was the dominant transcript and mirrored survival patterns.

Dp40 also appeared consistently.

This suggests isoforms, not just total DMD drive the biology.

2/8 Using TCGA data (33 cancers), we found DMD expression significantly linked to survival in 9 cancers.

But the direction split:

High DMD = ⬆️ survival (breast, lung, pancreas, AML, uveal melanoma)

High DMD = ⬇️ survival (glioma, thymoma, kidney and rectal)

1/8 The Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene (DMD) is well known in muscle biology, but in cancer its role has been puzzling.

Some studies showed high DMD = better survival. Others showed the opposite.

We set out to explain why.

🚨 New in FEBS Open Bio!
During COVID, with labs disrupted, I undertook an MRes apprenticeship in bioinformatics. As a professor, I was suddenly a student again, learning coding to support my group.

Together with @Weekademia, we propose a unified model of DMD in cancer. 🧵👇

The Day Novartis Chose Discovery How a Swiss pharma giant built the last great corporate research skunkworks - and why that model may never work again.

A formative experience for me working at Novartis for a year in the late 90s www.alexkesin.com/p/the-day-no... The Day Novartis Chose Discovery

Cytotoxic IgG: Mechanisms, functions, and applications Cytotoxic antibodies have become an essential tool to remove unwanted cells in patients with cancer, infection, and autoimmunity. Wöhner and Nimmerjahn summarize recent insights into how antibody-depe...

Cytotoxic IgG: Mechanisms, functions, and applications: Immunity www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

The Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene and cancer - Cellular Oncology Background Mutation of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene causes Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, degenerative neuromuscular disorders that primarily affect voluntary muscles. However, ...

And our review on the topic! link.springer.com/article/10.1... The Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene and cancer | Cellular Oncology

Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene expression is an independent prognostic marker for IDH mutant low-grade glioma - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene expression is an independent prognostic marker for IDH mutant low-grade glioma

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene expression is an independent prognostic marker for IDH mutant low-grade glioma | Scientific Reports