Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 05/10/2026A pure indulgence. Quick visit to SISSA today, and I’m taking the latest in modern transport technology. #Trieste #Opicina #tram 040
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026For those who don’t know, it was Marco @beatolab.bsky.social who brought these channels to life…. Check it out. So beautiful. www.jneurosci.org/content/24/4... 250
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Ana was pretty happy with this one. Glycine receptor alpha1 homomer, lovely long clusters of openings at 1 mM. We do theory all morning but in the afternoons it’s full-on wet lab practicals. #singlechannels #neuroscience #BSMBC 270
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026And that’s that. The 3rd edition of #BSMBC is done. We ended with some analysis examples and software demonstrations. Many thanks to course faculty @ewerslab.bsky.social Max Ulbrich, Jelena Baranovic and Claudio Grosman, our students, and our super coordinator Dr Sandra Keiper, without whom🙏❤️ 031
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026One of the most beautiful experiments ever! Single proton pKa measurements from the nicotinic receptor, Claudio Grosman’s masterpiece. #BSMBC www.nature.com/articles/nat... 040
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Now part two. No colour but incredible details from a giant of the field. Claudio Grosman outlines his pioneering work on reaction mechanisms via single channel recording. #BSMBC 020
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026At the Berlin Single Molecule #biophysics course #BSMBC every participant also gives a 5 minute “chalk talk” on their own work. This is a great way to bring everyone into the discussion, and to make new connections. Here Shahid Iqbal from Bergen told us about his work on ion channel receptors. 000
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026How it started…how it’s going. At the start of the week, a pile of parts. Jelena & I threw the minipatch together in the lunch break. By Tuesday, we used it for nice cell-attached patch recordings. Students (Nanna & David) learn about grounding. The recording “box” is bottom right. #BSMBC 010
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026We are immensely grateful to Max Ulbrich from Freiburg, who transformed the imaging quality on our live cell #TIRF setup! Max also gave a wonderful lecture on his work counting subunits. #BSMBC 030
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Jelena Baranovic from the University of Edinburgh told us about her work on #iglurs and single channels. She also got several sets of students to record single glycine receptors. #BSMBC 060
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026@ewerslab.bsky.social showed the students single molecule TIRF! #BSMBC 130
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/09/2026We’ve had a great week with single molecules at the HU Berlin on the #BSMBC . Fantastic students, great spirit. Today we wrap up with lectures from two of the best in the business. First, we are honoured to have @ewerslab.bsky.social here to tell us about single molecule localisation microscopy. 010
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Which one did I take? No, we don’t have a viddyo. 010
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I've not had such bad experiences on Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) recently. I'm not travelling today but the delays are wild. Some trains are hours late! Reasons given : police intervention on train, ambulance intervention, technical failure on train, staff late arriving, previous train late... 120
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 24/08/2026No such drug as LY30124958, of course. Just a random number I made up, that looks like an Eli Lilly designation. Modulations on this fake answer also come back for real drug candidates. Maybe because it's a cheap #AI 🫨 000
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 21/08/2026The oversize pieces I made in Italy, with the originals. 110
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Actually I did a couple…this one was ours and broken for years. 200
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 21/08/2026how it started : how it's going (my second holiday project is finished) very pleased with how it came out, only my third one, a pleasure to upcycle it with a chestnut handle for my friends. #wood #knife 160
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Had to stop running to avoid falling over, laughing so much. 000
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Table of the effects of various alcoholic drinks according to body weight and stomach state (!), Station Bar, Udine, Italy. 010
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Great! I’m very jealous. Complete disaster here (northern Italy)- the relatively young tree (2 year old) grew fruits but lost all its leaves in the recent heatwave. The head of the family council thinks it is dead/dying. I’m irrigating daily in the hope of saving it. 100
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 25/07/2026We don’t yet know all that slow AMPA can do. It might unlock NMDA, maybe synaptic plasticity. It's slowness could be important for cognitive processes. The craphical abstract from 2021 shows key ideas: STP, diversity and detonation. But now we do know: CNIH3 is a main actor for slow AMPA! 20/n 110
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 25/07/2026CNIH3 is not just a marker, it's a great candidate for slow AMPA. Jenn Noonan did tough experiments in HEK cells (everything dies...) to show CNIH3 makes AMPARs very slow, at least 100 ms decay and a big reduction of desensitisation (confirming results from Bowie, Nakagawa and Cull-Candy labs). 17/n 110
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 25/07/2026We were amazed to see that two different shRNAs against CNIH3 (which should spare CNIH2, AMPA nerds) completely removed all trace of slow AMPA. Not reduced - GONE! A scrambled control shRNA did not affect slow AMPA. 15/n 110
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Marin did the bioinformatics and one stunning candidate appeared: CNIH3, an understudied auxiliary protein. Marin confirmed that the functional dorsal ventral gradient was indeed rather strong, and then the critical experiment. 14/n 120
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 25/07/2026One clue, if you have a slow current that is not blocked by APV and NBQX/DNQX/CNQX, but is blocked by GYKI, this could well be slow AMPA. In the 2021 paper, we called the slow AMPA current "the Pedestal". 10/n 110
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 25/07/2026We found a molecular mechanism in heterologous expression, and then started hunting for slow currents at synapses. To our surprise and delight, slow AMPA currents were hiding in plain sight in the well-studied CA1 pyramidal cells. This is still my favourite figure ever *thanks Nico*! 7/n 172
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Trying out the zoom on my new phone. U-Bahn at Bulowstrasse. 020
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Some more Pisa pictures. Highly photogenic city! 010
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 18/07/2026I don’t normally come to the lab on a Saturday. Our lab move across campus was supposed to start on Tuesday. So I made an effort to come back from Italy for that. For whatever reason, the movers decided to start already on Thursday… Big kudos to my lab for adapting to this ridiculous chaos! 020
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 17/07/2026On my way back from the Synaptic Transmission GRC. Possibly the best scientific meeting that I have ever attended. Great spirit, unbelievable quality. Trainees on fire, revelations and maybe the best GRC location. Many thanks to the chairs, Sam Young and Inna Slutsky! See you again in 2 years! 0140
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 12/07/2026What’s frustrating is, having left Trent (Real Madrid RB for pity’s sake!) at home ostensibly because he’s not a good enough defender, England end up playing a centre back at right back, and a barely-fit right back plays inverted at the base of midfield. Neither does anything creative. But Trent.. 000
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 11/07/2026I found it quite hard to do the Martin Parr homage. @christlet.bsky.social 141
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Chiesa di Santa Cristina on the bank of the Arno River, Pisa 100
Andrew Plested @andrewplested.bsky.social · 11/07/2026It might help to look through the “telescope”. 032
