For an update on our preprint about the mysterious signature SBS5, see: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... New analyses throughout, but see Figure 5 in particular.

Thank you Dr. Zandrea

Febri Sugiokto will defend his PhD thesis entitled "Promoter-specific proteomics identifies HNRNPA2B1 as an epigenetic regulator of EBV latency and reactivation" on April 22, 2026 at 1 pm.

Congratulations to PMI student @febrigunawan48.bsky.social from Dr. Renfeng Li's laboratory on his upcoming PhD thesis defense! 🎉 🎈

New preprint

Proteomic Screening Identifies HNRNPA2B1 as an Epigenetic Repressor of Epstein-Barr Virus Reactivation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...

MARCH 7TH NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION RICHMOND Capitol Square Bell Tower 12:00 - 2:00pm

RICHMOND! Join your local March 7th rally to take back our science! Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7

#March7
#rally
#standupforscience
#March7Richmond
#science

NEJM Clinician Editor-in-Chief Raja-Elie Abdulnour, MD, explains a recent study on weight regain after stopping obesity medications showing projected return to baseline weight within 2 years. Read the full context and comment by Sarah E. Post, MD: jwat.ch/4a91gtO

#MedSky #GLP1

Looking forward to #BPS2026 in San Francisco?

Come by the NIH sponsored Transformative High-Resolution Cryo-Electron Microscopy National Centers for #CryoEM at booth 410.

Our mission is to broaden access to high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy and tomography technologies - cryoemcenters.org

PtdIns(3,5)P2 is an endogenous ligand of STING in innate immune signalling - Nature Phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate is a ligand of STING and, together with cGAMP, induces STING activation and innate immune responses.

Nature research paper: PtdIns(3,5)P2 is an endogenous ligand of STING in innate immune signalling

go.nature.com/4klvMp1

🧬📄 Preprint update (v2): We added new biochemical experiments that clarify how IWS1 associates with the transcription elongation complex and further define competition between IWS1 and RECQL5. 🧪⚙️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Structural model is already available in the PDB (9MLC).

At this point MAGA has actually gone far beyond the level of human rights abuses we took the trouble to document in other countries. Keep hold of your moral compasses, and continue to #resist #AltFam

A coworker took this from her apartment. I haven't seen a crowd this size before. Maybe the first Women's March? But it was much much warmer that day. ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA!

SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3 Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...

An early Christmas present for those interested in chromatin and transcription! Fantastic work from @au-ho-yu.bsky.social and @aleksszczurek.bsky.social . Thanks to Inge and Michiel for their help. Please repost!

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

🧪For anyone interested in EBV in autoimmunity, I strongly urge you to read this incredible study by @shady-myounis.bsky.social, Bill Robinson, and @tobiaslanz.bsky.social. It is not only a scientific tour de force, it has a deeply provocative discussion that everyone in the field should consider 1/

Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells in systemic lupus erythematosus Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells to promote pathogenic antinuclear T and B cell responses in lupus.

Whoah

EBV not only causes multiple sclerosis, it also might be the root of SLE

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An EBV vaccine to rid ourselves of these horrible autoimmune conditions (and many cancers)?

#lupus #medsky #RheumSky

@christosargyrop.bsky.social

New OA Article: "RNA m6A regulates the transcription and heterochromatin state of retrotransposons in Arabidopsis" rdcu.be/eM95H

m6A is recognized by nuclear readers CPSF30-L and ECT12, which associate with SUVH4/5/6 and ATXR5/6 to enhance histone methylation...

University of Pittsburgh professors push back against Trump 'compact' for higher education University of Pittsburgh professors have asked their school to reject a Trump "compact" that promises more access to federal resources to schools that sign on to his agenda

Pitt faculty taking a stand against the higher education "compact"

www.wesa.fm/identity-com...

I know of a few other news stories about similar faculty action.

Please share them here.

Welp. Thanks to the Republican gov shutdown I have a bunch of hours back in my week due to a NIH study section not meeting.

These poor applicants. They will be waiting week by week for government to reopen and to find out what will happen to their grant application.

Photo: Cecilia Odlind

The 2025 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body 🧪 www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medic...

2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine #nobelprize

E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”

Strengthening nucleic acid biosecurity screening against generative protein design tools www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧬🖥️🧪

Imagine a scientific journal called Infection and Immunity not focusing on viruses and the immune response?!

Congrats!

Our enthusiastic student talk: Febri Gunawan Sugiokto from PMI
#bgsa #symposium #studenttalks

Check out PMI talks tomorrow at the SOM Grad Student Symposium:
@catmphelps.bsky.social (in @meisellab.bsky.social ), Daria Jelic (Doug Reed lab), Kelsey Ertwine (Abby Overacre lab), @febrigunawan48.bsky.social (in Renfeng Li lab), and @dariavantyne.bsky.social !

ASM 🥳

Faculty Professor Associate - Full-Time | Vaughn Cooper We are recruiting Faculty microbiologists in three (3) different, complementary, and collaborative areas at the University of Pittsburgh associated with the School of Medicine. 1) Fundamental researc...

🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...

ASM Issues Joint Statement Calling For Secretary Kennedy Resignation The American Society for Microbiology joined national medical, scientific, public health and patient organizations to call for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ensure the health of the American people. Protecting public health is our responsibility as physicians, scientists and patient advocates. It is also the responsibility of our elected officials, and we call for their support at this critical moment to protect the health of the nation.

Thanks to @asm.org and colleagues for stadning up for public health. Call Congress today and demand Kennedy's resignation
asm.org/press-releas...

DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function - Nature Genetics Genome-wide and targeted perturbation of DNA methylation at centromeres affects CENP-A positioning and centromere structure, resulting in aneuploidy and reduced cell viability.

#1 Centromeres are epigenetic loci defined by CENP-A, positioned in unmethylated DNA flanked by highly methylated regions. Our work, published in @natgenet.nature.com in collaboration with @naltemose.bsky.social investigates the role of DNAme at human centromeres www.nature.com/articles/s41...

As RFK testifies in front of the Senate today, ASV wants to emphasize the risks posed by his decisions related to virus outbreaks and the public health of Americans. Together with our partner organizations, we call for RFK's resignation: asm.org/press-releas...