Joost Snijder

Lenacapavir prevents production of infectious HIV-1 by abrogating immature virus assembly. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.02.709178v1 #cryoEM

Weer tientallen zorg­instellingen ingelijfd door private equity: ‘Er ontstaan machtsblokken’ Steeds meer zorginstellingen komen in handen van private investeerders. Met goedkeuring van de overheid kochten zij vorig jaar ruim honderd zorgorganisaties op. De Tweede Kamer kijkt machteloos toe.

Jouw tandarts, fysiotherapeut of opticien kan momenteel onderdeel zijn van een internationale investeerder. Private equity koopt in hoog tempo zorginstellingen op, met goedkeuring van de overheid. Maar wat betekent dat voor de prijs, kwaliteit en onze keuzevrijheid als het op zorg aankomt?

The results are finally in! 🏆💻🧬

I'm thrilled to announce that the manuscript for the Bits to Binders protein design competition is out on bioRxiv! Here's a summary of our findings, including some simple criteria that nearly *double* success rates when applied as a filter 🧵

Introducing our new blood-stage malaria vaccine immunogen based on the essential invasion protein PfCyRPA. By understanding where on PfCyRPA the best antibodies bind, we used structure guided design to generate PfCyRPA-EM, which contains only the epitopes of the best antibodies.

Stunning new structural analysis and mechanism for Tmn anti-phage defense by @fnobrega.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

High-resolution in situ structures of hantavirus glycoprotein tetramers The cryo-EM structures of Andes hantavirus (ANDV) glycoprotein tetramers, dimers of tetramers, and ADI-65534 Fab complexes on eVLPs unveil the molecular basis of New World hantavirus glycoprotein architecture, acid-induced membrane fusion, and antibody-mediated neutralization. Immunization with repRNA encoding ANDV-VLPs elicits high neutralizing-antibody titers.

Now online! High-resolution in situ structures of hantavirus glycoprotein tetramers

With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268

PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Lenacapavir A potent and long-acting drug that targets the HIV capsid

The March Molecule of the Month looks at Lenacapavir, a potent and long-acting drug that targets the HIV capsid #ASBMB2026

Cryo-EM structures of prefusion HSV-2 gB in complex with human antibodies.

Our fourth installment on prefusion herpesvirus gB proteins is available as a preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202.... Working with Ivelin Georgiev's group, we isolated and characterized prefusion-specific HSV gB antibodies from humans!

High-resolution in situ structures of hantavirus glycoprotein tetramers pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41763200/ #cryoEM

CryoVirusDB: An Annotated Dataset for AI-Based Virus Particle Identification in Cryo-EM Micrographs pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41754567/ #cryoEM

Is deze coalitie blind voor het tijdsgewricht? De doorrekening van het coalitieakkoord bevestigde dat de rijken rijker worden en de armen armer. Volgens premier Jetten moeten er misschien nog wat ‘puntjes op de i’ worden gezet.

Dit gaat niet over het ietsiepietsie aanpassen van koopkrachtplaatjes, dit gaat over het fundamenteel niet verstaan van het tijdsgewricht.

Column over het #coalitieakkoord

Vandaag gratis te lezen

www.groene.nl/artikel/aanv...

In new study we examine constraints on evolution of endemic "common-cold" coronavirus 229E

We find strong tradeoff between antibody neutralization & receptor binding, due to up-down position of spike RBD

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

See lead author Sheri Harari's summary: x.com/SheriHarari/...

Out today in @natecoevo.nature.com!

📝 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We compare the mutational tolerance of enteroviruses A & B across their full proteomes, mapping distinct host interaction strategies 🦠 and identifying mutation-resistant regions that could inform antiviral development 💊

Cynthia in action 😎

Happening now, looking forward to the talks!

Functional and antigenic constraints on the Nipah virus fusion protein | PNAS Nipah virus is a highly pathogenic virus in the family Paramyxoviridae that utilizes two distinct surface glycoproteins to infect cells. The recept...

In new study led by Brendan Larsen, we map functional constraint across the Nipah virus F protein to define constrained epitopes for antibody targeting and identify mutations that stabilize the prefusion conformation for vaccine immunogens.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Structural insight into the assembly and D antigenicity of polio type 1 stabilized virus-like particles pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41735326/ #cryoEM

Can safely way this is the craziest and coolest study I have led. We chart the evolution of sheeppox virus, finding it in the Eurasian steppe ~3700 years ago, and also in a LOT of parchment from medieval Europe (made from a range of animals skins!) #aDNA

Varicella zoster virus and the central nervous system Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 24 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-026-01289-9Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection causes varicella and herpes zoster and, rarely, severe central nervous system (CNS) complications, including encephalitis. Ogunjimi et al. review the evidence linking herpes zoster with stroke and dementia, summarize innate and adaptive immune responses to VZV-related CNS disease, and debate the consequences of vaccination.

New online! Varicella zoster virus and the central nervous system

Antibody-mediated feedback modulates interclonal competition in the germinal center Antibodies generated by prior immune responses regulate B cell responses upon recall immunization. Barbulescu et al. examine whether antibodies produced by an ongoing immune response influence the out...

One more trick pulled off by antibody-mediated feedback

www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

Our latest preprint: Together with the team of Jan Löwe, @danieltamarit.bsky.social and many others we discovered and characterized several Asgard tubulin genes and propose that microtubule architecture and dynamics evolved in Asgard archaea prior to eukaryogenesis
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

We're hosting Waters in Utrecht for their University Tour. Come learn about their latest LC-MS, HDX-MS, and CD-MS solutions. Next week February 26th. With our very own Cynthia Kelley on our antiviral antibody epitope mapping work by HDX-MS. Register via the link:
web.cvent.com/event/f223ae...

PDB101: Molecule of the Month: H5 Hemagglutinin Sugar-binding protein on the surface of the H5N1 avian influenza virus

Since it first emerged in 1996, H5N1 avian influenza (also known as "bird flu") has led to the death and culling of millions of birds across the globe
Visit PDB-101 for a look at the protein on the surface of the H5N1 avian influenza virus

We;re hiring Junior Group Leaders! 🔬✨
We’re looking for researchers in immunology, chemical biology, AI in biology, or protein design to launch their own independent groups in our collaborative, international environment.

www.nki.nl/news-events/...

Expanding Glycopeptide Identification with Match-Between-Glycans in FragPipe Glycosylation is one of the most important, but also most complex, post-translational modifications of proteins, playing a pivotal role in various pathological processes. Mass spectrometry-based large-scale glycoproteomics analysis offers a powerful approach to explore the fundamental roles of glycosylation in both physiological and pathological contexts. Traditionally, DDA glycopeptide assignment relies on information-dense MS2 spectra, containing sufficient fragmentation information to identify both the peptide and glycan moieties. Achieving this fragmentation can be difficult, especially for low-abundant glycopeptides and/or large, complex glycans. These glycopeptides are often not assigned using current data analysis software, yet they can be of biological relevance. Here, we introduce a method called match-between-glycans (MBG), which expands glycopeptide identification while maintaining the existing glycoproteome analysis workflow. MBG enables expanding the set of identified glycopeptides to include those without MS2 spectra, or with lower quality MS2 spectra, by looking for MS1 signals displaced from other identified glycopeptides by one or multiple monosaccharide unit(s). MBG can also identify glycans not included in the glycan database, such as those containing adducts or modifications, allowing these glycans to be recovered without a drastic expansion of the search space. Combined with target-decoy FDR control, we show this method is capable of accurately expanding glycopeptide identifications and providing a more complete quantitative profile of glycosylation at each glycosite. MBG is fully integrated into the glycoproteomics workflows in FragPipe, allowing seamless, one-click operation.

(BioRxiv All) Expanding Glycopeptide Identification with Match-Between-Glycans in FragPipe: Glycosylation is one of the most important, but also most complex, post-translational modifications of proteins, playing a pivotal role in various pathological processes. Mass… #BioRxiv #MassSpecRSS

Integrase anchors viral RNA to the HIV-1 capsid interior pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41708858/ #cryoEM

Structure and mechanism of antiphage retron Eco2 - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology This study shows how the bacterial retron Eco2 defends against viruses. Phage nucleases trigger activation of Eco2, which cuts RNAs, shuts down protein production and stops phage replication.

Now that @mftorresj.bsky.social & I are based at VU Life Sciences Center (one of the birthplaces of CRISPR tech) our publication portfolio gets extra diverse thanks to our phylogenetics & data vis skills. Here's one collaboration with @patrick-pausch.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

We're hosting Waters in Utrecht for their University Tour. Come learn about their latest LC-MS, HDX-MS, and CD-MS solutions. Next week February 26th. With our very own Cynthia Kelley on our antiviral antibody epitope mapping work by HDX-MS. Register via the link:
web.cvent.com/event/f223ae...