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Castañeda Lab at SU

@castanedalab.bsky.social
1.2K followers 636 following 66 posts

Using molecular biophysics, biochemistry, and cell biology to understand the intersection of protein quality control mechanisms and neurodegenerative disorders (ALS, FTD); IDPs, Ub biology, UBQLNs

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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
H. B. Beryl Rappaport @hbrappap.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our description of fire amoeba, 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴, is now online at Cell! Thanks @oliverio.bsky.social and amazing team for questioning the limits of eukaryotes! 🔥 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes
The amoeba Incendiamoeba cascadensis demonstrates that eukaryotic life can withstand temperatures beyond what was thought possible and sheds light on molecular strategies for survival in extreme heat.
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Drummond Lab @drummondlab.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
We are hiring! 🌟 Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago is searching for a tenure-track assistant professor. It's a broad search: we want great colleagues doing serious biological work at the molecular scale. Join us! apply.interfolio.com/191981 bcmb.uchicago.edu
A picture of the University of Chicago campus, with downtown Chicago in the distance and Lake Michigan on the horizon. The campus's central quad is pictured, a classical collegiate quad with paths and old trees and stone architecture. It's really pretty and I love it.
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Priority deadline on Monday 8/17!
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Syracuse University College of Arts & Sciences @suartsciences.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
🧪 Fertilization isn't just a sperm race. A new A&S-led study in Nature Communications found sperm cooperation has evolved, vanished and re-evolved across arthropods for 500 million years. How this research could help fight crop-damaging insects ⤵️
artsandsciences.syracuse.edu
A Cooperative Approach to Reproductive Success
Syracuse University biologists publish a new study examining how sperm cooperation has evolved over the past 500 million years.
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Please share--the Shansky lab is currently recruiting at all levels to work on an NIH-funded project investigating sex differences in the neural circuits that drive defensive behaviors. The official job ad isn't yet up, but interested folks can contact me as instructed here www.shanskylab.com/join
shanskylab.com
Join — Shansky Lab
The lab at our end-of-semester field day
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Come be our colleague. I have been in this Division for 27 years (4 as a postdoc and 23 as a PI). It is an amazing place to work, collaborate, and be inspired. If you are applying to be an Assistant or Associate Professor this Fall, don't miss this deadline.
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
We are actively looking for a NMR facility manager for our growing NMR needs in Syracuse! This facility hosts an 800 with TCI cryoprobe (perfect for disordered protein research) and 600 with Prodigy cryoprobe. Please share with your communities!
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Magnetic Resonance News @nmr900.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Instructional Support Specialist (NMR Specialist) College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York esf.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta... #NMRjobs #NMRchat #NMR 🧲
banner
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Interested in joining a vibrant Syracuse research community? We are looking to hire a NMR facility manager overseeing 600 and 800 MHz Bruker systems (the latter equipped with a TCI cryoprobe). Please share with your networks and apply here!: esf.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...
esf.interviewexchange.com
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Stacey Ogden 🦔 @labogden.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Make some noise about this 🧪 www.npr.org/2026/06/03/n...
npr.org
President Trump seeks control of science funding
The White House Office of Management and Budget is moving to take more control of billions of dollars in federal grants. Critics say the proposed change would jeopardize the integrity of U.S. science.
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
NIH Grants Management people are truly heroic (as are Program officers)--mine is emailing at 8:50 PM--they are working overtime to keep science in operation in the US.
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Plant Science Spotlight @plant-sci.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
🌿🧬A conserved proteasome mechanism degrades class B ARFs to balance auxin signaling across land plants, from moss to maize A 500 million year old system for cell fate control @luciastrader.bsky.social @mjprigge.bsky.social @mestelle.bsky.social @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Comparative mutant analyses reveal a novel mechanism of ARF regulation in land plants - Nature Plants
Comparative analysis of maize and moss reveals a 500-million-year-old piece of the auxin-signalling puzzle that controls the protein level of ARFs, key transcriptional regulators.
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Lori Strong @loristrong.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
It is open comment time for a Project 2025 bill Stand up for Science has a synopsis of it here synopsis of the key points www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a... and also tips for commenting here www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a.... Comment and fight for science!
standupforscience.foundation
OMG OMB! A Brief Overview of OMB-2026-0034 — Stand Up for Science Foundation
Our Policy team reviewed the new OMB proposal so you don’t have to read the 412 pages.
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Kevin Gardner @nmrkaygee.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Glad to facilitate tomorrow’s discussion on this critical topic for anyone doing research supported by US federal funding. Please register to join in!
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
CNY ASM @cnyasm.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Did you know that thermophilic amoeba have been isolated by researchers at Syracuse University from a steam vent at SUNY ESF? artsandsciences.syracuse.edu/biology/news... You can visit this geyser of the built environment when you come to our first fall meeting, held at SUNY ESF this year!
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IDPSeminars @idpseminars.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
IDPSeminars is back for a final seminar of spring 2026! This week, we welcome Wenwei Zheng and Sigrid Milles! The seminar is at 10 AM PST / 1 pm EST / 7 PM European time on Thursday. Sign up via our website at idpseminars.com!
Wenwei Zheng (Arizona State University): "Structural Organization of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Ensembles"

Sigrid Milles (FMP Berlin): "How disorder regulates endocytosis: dynamics across molecular scales"
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
This is unacceptable. Read below
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 29/05/2026
Of all the harm this administration has done to US science, today's proposed changes to the way federal grants are awarded and administered is the most damaging yet. The text of the federal register document is impenetrably tedious by design, so here's an excellent summary of what it says.
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Syracuse University College of Arts & Sciences @suartsciences.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
🧪 That sourdough starter on your counter? It's a microbial community that's been evolving the whole time you've fed it. @oliverio.bsky.social's lab just won a $2.1M NIH grant to use starters as a model system for studying how microbiomes evolve.
artsandsciences.syracuse.edu
Sourdough Helps Syracuse Scientists Understand Evolution
A new $2.1 million grant from the NIH will support the Oliverio lab’s fermented food research over the next five years.
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
The EMBO Journal @embojournal.org · 06/05/2026
Phosphorylation tunes p62 condensates to drive autophagic degradation of ubiquitinated proteins Masaaki Komatsu and collaborators link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Phosphorylation tunes p62 condensates to drive autophagic degradation of ubiquitinated proteins - The EMBO Journal
p62/SQSTM1 self-assembles with polyubiquitin into liquid-like condensates (“p62 bodies”) that function as stress-signaling hubs and selective autophagy cargo. We show that TBK1-dependent phosphorylati...
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
#preprint by postdoc Billy Haws reveals the determinants of how UBQLN2 forms puncta under heat stress conditions - using both in vitro and in cell experiments, turns out the substrate-binding / chaperone-binding STI1-I and STI1-II domains are the driving forces! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Biophysical Society @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Happy #BiophysicsWeek! This week is full of free events sponsored by BPS, Subgroups, and Affiliate Event organizers. And don't miss the many biophysics resources created by BPS committees! buff.ly/Yz26hiG
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Saccharomyces Genome Database @yeastgenome.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
🧬 #Yeast Dsk2 uses its STI1 domain to interact with transient helices, driving phase separation and proteasome condensate formation under stress. This reveals new details about how cells organize protein degradation machinery 🧪 #YeastResearch #SGD #ProteinQuality www.yeastgenome.org/reference/S1...
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Postdocs Nirbhik Acharya and @jessniblo.bsky.social worked awesomely together to show how disordered regions regulate folded domain interactions that affect UBQLN structure, dynamics, and binding. Illustrating the power of experimental (NMR, SAXS) and computational collabs on full-length proteins!!!
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
The EMBO Journal @embojournal.org · 11/02/2026
Yeast ubiquilin Dsk2 scaffolds proteasome-containing condensates under stress via multivalent interactions – @castanedalab.bsky.social et al show how dynamic interactions among its STI1 domain & transient helices in its disordered region promote its phase-separation link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
STI1 domain engages transient helices to mediate Dsk2 phase separation and proteasome condensation - The EMBO Journal
Ubiquitin-binding shuttle proteins are important components of stress-induced biomolecular condensates in cells. Yeast Dsk2 scaffolds proteasome-containing condensates via multivalent interactions wit...
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Postdocs studying IDPs (disordered proteins) and heading to BPS, apply by Dec 15!
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Dan Isom @danisomlab.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
We just wrapped up the 7th Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology Retreat in the Florida Keys, and the energy was incredible. Under the theme “Colab in the Cays,” scientists from 15+ labs shared 53 talks across two days, with every single participant presenting their work.
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IDPSeminars @idpseminars.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
We're back for our final seminar of 2025 with talks from @alexholehouse.bsky.social and Birthe Kragelund! 1 pm EST or 7 pm European time. If you're not already signed up, head on over to idpseminars.com to register!
Talk titles for IDPSeminars on Dec 4th at noon central time. 

Alex Holehouse (Washington University in St. Louis): Sequence-to-ensemble  with STARLING

Birthe Kragelund (University of Copenhagen): Disordered protein complexes and the origins of life
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Marina Holz @marinaholz.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
As the Executive Editor of BBA Reviews on Cancer, I am pleased to announce Call for Nominations: *BBA Rising Stars in Biochemistry & Biophysics 2026*!Nominate outstanding scientists within 10 years of their PhD for this prestigious award. Deadline: Dec 1, 2025. lnkd.in/dRzrNbJZ
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Sjors Scheres @sjorsscheres.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
I just made an account and voted for this biology laboratory made of LEGO to "promote biological research and inspire more people into the world of biology". They need 10K votes. Reposting and/or voting below would be helpful. 🤗 beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
beta.ideas.lego.com
Biological Laboratory | LEGO® Ideas
This is a two-floor realistic Biological Laboratory building. In this design, I try to tell stories about biologists, introduce biology concepts to general publ…
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Megan Harwig 🔬 @mcharwig.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Come work with us at MCW! This position is in the Translational Metabolomics-Preclinical Imaging Shared Resource. This position involves imaging mice, rats and other small animal models with multimodal imaging. careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
careers.peopleclick.com
Research Scientist I
Medical College of Wisconsin - Research Scientist I - Milwaukee WI 53201
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
So thrilled for you! Congratulations, @luciastrader.bsky.social !
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Jeremy Schmit @schmitbiophysics.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
"What does this curved line mean?" Like palm reading for your phase boundary. Plus, when is your condensate actually an oligomer (or vice versa)? A new preprint from the Schmit Group, in collaboration with Jonathon Ditlev, Les Loew, and @ani-chattaraj.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Biomolecular phase boundaries are described by a solubility product that accounts for variable stoichiometry and soluble oligomers
The solubility product is a rigorous description of the phase boundary for salt precipitation and has also been used to qualitatively describe the condensation of biomolecules. Here we present a deriv...
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
If you are a researcher whose lab uses FlyBase, consider a tax-deductible personal contribution. A lot of $100 contributions would help bridge the gap until we can set up a user fee system, and even $10 donations send the folks there the message we're behind them. Please share
My own donation
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated. [Gift Link] www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Update on NIH funding through July (August 1 budget start dates) Non-competitive renewal awards by month for fiscal year 2025 1/7
A bar graph of the fraction of NIH non-competitive renewal awards received by month showing that fewer awards that expected to being given.
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D. Allan Drummond @dadrummond.art · 01/08/2025
Happy RNA Day to those who celebrate! 🧪 It’s AUG 1: the day we Met 🤓
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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 31/07/2025
BIG NEWS: “Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.” Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle! www.axios.com/pro/health-c...
axios.com
Senate appropriators approve Labor-HHS bill with NIH bump
The vote and lawmaker comments show that most senators aren't going along with the White House's proposed 40% budget cut to NIH.
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Mike Feigin 🥯 @mikefeigin.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
“With these considerations, we expect to fund through the 4th percentile.” There it is, in black and white, the destruction of cancer research in the US.
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Tanja Mittag @tanjamittag.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
New paper on transcription factor phase separation published from my colleague Aseem Ansari's and my lab: Reconciling competing models on the roles of condensates and soluble complexes in transcription factor function authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
authors.elsevier.com
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
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Nicholas Fitzkee @fitzkeelab.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
As someone who has greatly benefited from the NSF MRI program, I'm sad to see that the 2025 submission window was canceled. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
nsf.gov
Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program:
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
@jeremymberg.bsky.social to share to others - this is a forecasted NIGMS MIRA funding opportunity for established/new investigators as I know people have been asking (FOR-GM-27-002) - due date appears to be late Jan 2026: grants.gov/search-resul...
grants.gov
Lock
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
This morning, courageous NIH workers shared a document they are calling the “Bethesda Declaration” with Dr. Bhattacharya, urging him to reverse some of the actions that are badly misaligned with progress toward the NIH mission. 1/3
media.tenor.com
a woman in a black and white dress is making a funny face .
ALT: a woman in a black and white dress is making a funny face .
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@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
It is beyond disturbing when the NIH and HHS Directors do not understand that animal models are essential in research www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/a...
statnews.com
There is no replacement (yet) for animal models in medical research
The NIH is “reducing animal use in research.” But there is no replacement for animal models.
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Development @dev-journal.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
To learn more about the story behind the paper, we caught up with first authors Yan Wu and Yiling Lan, and the corresponding author Heidi Hehnly @lovelessradio.bsky.social‬, an Associate Professor and Associate Director of the BioInspired Institute at @syracuseu.bsky.social
Yiling Lan (left), Heidi Hehnly (centre) and Yan Wu (right) in the zebrafish room at Syracuse University.
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Hurley Lab @jenniferhurleylab.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Thanks to @npr.org and the Shortwave podcast for covering circadian research! It was very cool to be on the podcast and on All Things Considered. And Kudos to Chris Hall for the exciting work. www.npr.org/2025/05/29/n... www.npr.org/2025/05/30/1...
npr.org
This week in science: hawks hunting, infrared contacts and immunity through the day
Berly McCoy and Regina Barber of Short Wave talk about a hawk's clever hunting strategy, contacts that allow wearers to see infrared light, and how immunity varies during the day.
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Vikram Paralkar @paralkarlab.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Fascinating new paper explaining why nucleoli have heterochromatin stacked around them.
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Reposted by Castañeda Lab at SU
Lucia Strader @luciastrader.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Biomolecular condensates are critical for organizing cellular contents, but most studies focus on phase separation driven by salt, pH, or temperature. But what if intracellular movement also matters? Here, we explore motility-induced condensation in the cell. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Active transport enables protein condensation in cells
The force generated by active transport modulates protein condensation.
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Castañeda Lab at SU @castanedalab.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
The power of collaborations! With @shaharsu.bsky.social, his PD @jessniblo.bsky.social and CALVADOS3 (thanks to @lindorfflarsen.bsky.social ) we show how STI1 (red) may engage with sequences that match transient helices within IDRs of Ub-binding shuttle protein Dsk2 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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