Federico Teloni

Applications for the 2026 Vienna BioCenter Summer School Program are now open!

Please share this opportunity with talented undergrads or Masters students interested in broadening their research experience in molecular biology in the heart of Europe 🧬

🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!

Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.

Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

Registration is open!🧬

Join us at Egmond aan Zee (April 19–24, 2026) for the next DNA Repair Meeting. We have an amazing line-up of speakers.

📅 Deadline for early registration: Jan 10, 2026
🔗 dnarepairmeeting-egmond2026.com

Our Spatial Genome Organisation 2025 attendees! Fantastic presentations, discussions & collaborations have taken place over the past 2 days, with plenty more to come. Its been a pleasure working with Karim, Irene & Matthias, looking forward to what the future holds for this brilliant series. #SGO25

📢 Open Call! The Max Perutz Labs invite applications for a Full Professorship in Integrative Structure Biology with a focus on in situ structural biology using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and related methods. More details ➡️ tinyurl.com/brswbymu

Thrilled to share this collaborative work, including our @gerlichlab.bsky.social, uncovering a fundamental charge-based principle of centromere positioning!
Check it out 👇

We found a new asymmetry in the large-scale chromosome structure: sister chromatids are systematically shifted by hundreds of kb in the 5′→3′ direction of their inherited strands! The work was led by Flavia Corsi, in close collaboration with the Daniel Gerlich lab.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/

Multigenerational cell tracking of DNA replication and heritable DNA damage - Nature A multigenerational single-cell tracking approach provides a framework to dissect phenotypic plasticity at the single-cell level, offering insights into cellular processes that may resemble early even...

Delighted to share that the results of my main postdoc project are now published in @nature.com

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Congratulations for the amazing work!

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Italy’s Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the Nazi-fascist regime.
The freedom we inherited must be protected every day, because fascism doesn’t belong in the past, unless we keep it there.

La libertà va difesa ogni giorno.
#25aprile #liberazione

Proximity determines donor candidacy during DNA double-stranded break homology directed repair DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) are especially toxic events that can be reversed by homology-directed repair (HDR), wherein information is copied from an intact template molecule. RAD51 mediates ini...

Fixed link www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thanks Jeroen!

Yes, after replication sisters are linked by cohesion, making them the preferred template for HR: this restricts the area of search, but additionally we observe that loop-forming and cohesive cohesin work together to define a proper search domain and establish productive contacts

Cohesin guides homology search during DNA repair via loops and sister chromatid linkages Accurate repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is essential for genome stability, and defective repair underlies diseases such as cancer. Homologous recombination uses an intact homologous sequenc...

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The study is specific for homologous search of HR during S/G2 phase, we didn't take a look at meiosis yet, but definitely something interesting to pursue.

(Thanks for the DOI heads up, bluesky cut in the preview and it went unnoticed)

Now with the proper working link, sorry for the trouble! doi.org/10.1101/2025...

How does cohesin guide homology search? Preprint from @albertomarin.bsky.social in the Ha lab! https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.10.637451

New method for monitoring homology search (RaPID-seq)? Preprint from @charlesyeh.bsky.social in @jcornlab.bsky.social! https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.10.63716

Huge thanks to my co-authors, @imbavienna.bsky.social and the fantastic facilities at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social. This work was supported by @erc.europa.eu, #MSCA, @fwf-at.bsky.social, @snsf-ch.bsky.social, @embo.org, @wwtf.at & #BIF.
For more great science on this topic check the post below 👇

We propose a dual function of cohesin in homology search:

🔹Loop-forming cohesin defines search space, limited by TADs
🔹Cohesive cohesin tethers the break to its sister, to favour productive interactions

This ensures efficient & accurate homology search!

Cohesion directs homology search towards sister chromatid

What happens if we disrupt sister cohesion? Upon sororin depletion (cohesion stabilizer):
✅ Loops remain intact
❌ Contacts between sister chromatids are lost

DSBs remodel sister chromatids in cis and trans

Sister-pore-C allows us to track how DNA architecture changes before and after DSBs. We found that DSBs locally increase loops and interactions between the broken ends and the intact sister chromatid.

A new tool: sister-pore-C

Homology-directed repair normally uses the sister chromatid as a template, but how does a DSB find its sister locus in 3D space? We developed sister-pore-C, a high-resolution method to map chromatin interactions within & between sister chromatids.

Cohesin-mediated loops control search range

When we disrupted cohesin regulators, search dynamics changed:
🔹 Reducing loops by NIPBL depletion narrowed homology search
🔹 Expanding loops by WAPL depletion made the search broader

Cohesin loops regulate homology search range!

RAD51 filaments sample local TADs

By mapping RAD51, a key repair protein, we found that homology search occurs within topologically associated domains near the breakrather than across the entire genome.
How does chromosome organization influence the search range?

Site-specific induction of homology-directed repair

To study how chromosome architecture influences homology search, we induced DSBs at specific genomic sites in S/G2-synchronized human cells. Most breaks were repaired by homologous recombination.

The challenge of homology search

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are dangerous, but homologous recombination repairs them accurately using a homologous template. How do broken DNA ends find homology sites in the folded chromatin architecture of the nucleus?

New preprint from the @gerlichlab.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social!

How do DNA breaks locate homology sites in the vast space of the human genome? We show how cohesin guides homology search for faithful repair!

Read more 👉 https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.10

Follow along for key insights! 🧵

You never know what people might find valuable these days, I guess willhaben is the way!

Looks like a "portable" speaker system for old iPods! Almost a relic 😂

The Vienna Biocenter Summer School 2025 call is now open for talented undergrads, it's a great prog. for students who are interested in the life sciences.
training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/ @impvienna.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social @gmivienna.bsky.social @maxperutzlabs.bsky.social