We wrote two reviews on cell migration, published today in Nature Methods.

They provides practical guidelines how to select a cell-migration assay and how to analyze cell-migration data

Review 1: nature.com/articles/s41...

Review 2: nature.com/articles/s41...

We just published a commentary on Francesca Bufalieri’s new article in a Molecular Therapy that shows the power or tweaking the UPS to modulate Hedgehog signalling in cancer. With @zeqiraj.bsky.social and Kevin Shi.

authors.elsevier.com/a/1mBKX5QliS...

This is a great PhD opportunity with excellent labs and mentors!

Precision Molecular Editing: Predicting Substrate Scope and Regiochemistry for CHEESY1, a Flavin Dependent Halogenase The ability to carry out C–H activation at any site on any heteroaromatic scaffold is a holy grail, offering the potential to revolutionize molecule making. Precision editing, activating, and replacin...

Check out our latest study

Precision Molecular Editing: Predicting Substrate Scope and Regiochemistry for CHEESY1, a Flavin Dependent Halogenase | ACS Catalysis pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Precision Molecular Editing: Predicting Substrate Scope and Regiochemistry for CHEESY1, a Flavin Dependent Halogenase The ability to carry out C–H activation at any site on any heteroaromatic scaffold is a holy grail, offering the potential to revolutionize molecule making. Precision editing, activating, and replacin...

Precision Molecular Editing: Predicting Substrate Scope and Regiochemistry for CHEESY1, a Flavin Dependent Halogenase | ACS Catalysis pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Our newest study just out today!

Turning it into a resort is devouring what makes Greece unique. We’ve seen it in Athens, Crete, Mykonos:

Protein codes promote selective subcellular compartmentalization Cells have evolved mechanisms to distribute ~10 billion protein molecules to subcellular compartments where diverse proteins involved in shared functions must assemble. Here, we demonstrate that prote...

Cool paper using LLM to discover a protein sequence code for subcellular localization 👏

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

Metabolic Messengers: small extracellular vesicles - Nature Metabolism Olefsky, Rohm and Cunha e Rocha provide a concise overview of the role of small extracellular vesicles in metabolic health and discuss their history, role as biomarkers, mechanisms of action and thera...

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

The findings have broad implications for nanomedicine and cancer therapy, paving the way for electrically modulated drug delivery systems that could improve chemotherapy efficacy in treatment-resistant malignancies.

Tackling Anticancer Drug Resistance and Endosomal Escape in Aggressive Brain Tumors Using Bioelectronics Resistance mechanisms in brain tumors, such as medulloblastoma and glioblastoma, frequently involve the entrapment of chemotherapeutic agents within endosomes and the extracellular expulsion of drugs. These barriers to effective treatment are exacerbated in nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, where therapeutic nanoparticles often remain confined within endosomes, thus diminishing their therapeutic efficacy. Addressing this challenge necessitates the development of novel strategies to enhance the efficiency of cancer therapies. This study tests the hypothesis that external electrical stimuli can modulate intracellular trafficking of chemotherapeutic drugs in common malignant brain tumors in children (medulloblastoma) and adults (glioblastoma) by using gold nanoparticles (GNPs). In our experiments, alternating current (AC) stimulation ranging from 1 kHz to 5 MHz and at a strength of 1 V/cm significantly reduced cell viability in drug-resistant medulloblastoma and enhanced delivery of GNPs in glioblastoma. Low-frequency AC resulted in a 50% increase in apoptosis compared to controls and an 8-fold increase in cell death in cisplatin-resistant medulloblastoma cells, accompanied by a substantial reduction in EC50 from 2.5 to 0.3 μM. Similarly, vincristine-resistant cells demonstrated a 4-fold enhancement in drug sensitivity. Furthermore, high-frequency AC facilitated a significant increase from 20 to 75% in the endosomal escape of GNPs in glioblastoma cells. These findings underscore the potential of AC to selectively disrupt cancer cell resistance mechanisms and bolster the efficacy of nanoparticle-based therapies. The results indicate the effectiveness of AC stimulation in circumventing the limitations inherent in current nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems but also illustrates its transformative potential for treating aggressive, drug-resistant brain tumors.

Check our group's recent bioelectronic strategy for treating brain tumours. Our study describes a novel approach to overcoming drug resistance by leveraging alternating current (AC) stimulation to enhance drug retention and endosomal escape in aggressive brain tumors. pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

🩷 thank you Nati 😊 @thehedgehoglab.bsky.social

What an incredible line of speakers we had this year at the Cancer Research Nottingham Symposium 2025! I am inspired! And very thankful for this poster award 😍 @uniofnottingham.bsky.social

So cute 😍

If you don’t feel stupid doing science, you’re not trying hard enough.

So many congratulations to our biofabrication team <3

Alvaro Mata, Cosimo Ligorio, Domenico Laurenza

www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/scienti...

Study says patient blood could repair broken bones Scientists have transformed blood into a substance which successfully repaired bones in animals.

Amazing Mata team <3

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As a PI, I consider it to be part of my job to teach trainees how to review respectfully and constructively. You can still recommend rejection of a paper, but there is a polite way to do it. And if the paper is good, for goodness sake, please tell the authors that they did something well!

Biocooperative Regenerative Materials by Harnessing Blood‐Clotting and Peptide Self‐Assembly Nature has evolved to repair small fractures by leveraging the cellular and molecular components of regenerative hematoma (RH). This study introduces a biocooperative material approach that enables t...

Check out the new paper w Alvaro Mata lab led by PhD student Soraya (now Multus Biotech) how to turn whole blood into biomaterials for 3d printing and personalised implants:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I'm sure the suspects had a blast 😂🥰

Beautiful 😍

Tumour cells and their environment | Brain tumours | Children with Cancer UK Dr Beth Coyle and her team are investigating this interaction between tumour cells and their environment. Read more here.

Really proud to be working on this project with a dream team of experts (Prof. Beth Coyle, Prof. Alvaro Mata, Dr Timothee Ritzmann, Dr Andrew Jackson, Dr Judith Ramage, Dr Ian Kerr and collaborators Prof. Alan McIntyre, Dr Simon Paine, Dr Louise Fetts)

www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk/childhood-ca...

Opportunity to work with #proudofalumni @raflynn5.bsky.social, discoverer of #glycoRNA and breaking all kinds of new ground in cell surface RNA biology

15-year anniversary of discovering PIEZO1 today! Bertrand Coste, then a postdoc in my lab, was knocking down potential mechanosensory ion channels in Neuro2a cells. Candidate 72 yielded a result. Bertrand came into my office and said: ‘I got it!’ — November 13, 2009. A great memory!🧪🧠

Neat #lipidtime study from @jamessaenz.bsky.social: we have many hundreds of lipids in our membranes, but a minimal cell can survive with just TWO of them: an ether-linked glycerophospholipid and cholesterol. And for the phospholipid, chirality at the glycerol matters! www.nature.com/articles/s41...