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GW Gant Luxton

@gwgl.bsky.social
217 followers 221 following 83 posts

I’m Gant. My lab studies how the structure of cells affects disease progression. Allen Distinguished Investigator in Molecular and Celular Biology at @UCDavis. luxton.faculty.ucdavis.edu

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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
Jan Lammerding - Lab @lammerdinglab.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Interested in nuclear mechanobiology and want to know what some of the big open questions are in the field? Read our recent editorial with input from >15 leading experts in the field, along with a list of review articles on nuclear mechanobiology: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Nuclear mechanobiology: a brief history and five unresolved questions
Published in Nucleus (Vol. 17, No. 1, 2026)
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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
Gladfelter Lab @gladfelterlab.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
You're probably already doing science advocacy — you just might not call it that. Our new commentary (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) makes the case that every scientist has a role, and that advocacy takes many forms. Find and embrace yours! @natcellbio.nature.com @vfarm15.bsky.social
nature.com
Every scientist has a role in advocacy - Nature Cell Biology
In this Comment, we call on scientists to share their stories. Through casual conversation or prepared presentations, with images or essays, scientists can advocate for their research and reach taxpay...
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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
Liam Holt @liamholt.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
We have a new paper out today from superstar Nora Herzog! A virus that fluidizes the nucleus to enable replication! Check it out here: lnkd.in/e-xV8acK This was an amazing collaboration with Ian Mohr and Angus Wilson
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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
bioRxiv Biophysics @biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Nuclear size and physical properties of the nucleoplasm are determined by colloid osmotic pressure at the nuclear envelope www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Led by @xiangyiding.bsky.social . Starr-Luxton lab (me and @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social) with the @stephanieweber.bsky.social lab. Supported by @NIGMS and the @allenphilanthro.bsky.social .
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In fly embryos rRNA transcription seeds nucleolar assembly and sets its precision (Falahati et al. 2016 Current Biology). Transcription is the trigger. We find nuclear architecture is the brake. Two independent inputs controlling when a condensate forms.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
That something is where heterochromatin sits. Remove the tether holding heterochromatin at the nuclear periphery (CEC-4) and the precocious assembly is strongly suppressed. Position, not transcription, gates the timing.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The early nucleoli are transcriptionally active, so the transcriptional trigger was available all along. Timing is set by something else.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Break the LINC complex, the bridge connecting chromatin and the nuclear lamina to the cytoskeleton (sun-1 or zyg-12), and nucleoli appear early, at 4 cells. Something had been holding them back.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The usual answer is concentration: accumulate enough components, cross a threshold, condensate forms. But in C. elegans embryos nucleoli don't appear until the 6 to 8 cell stage, well after zygotic transcription starts. The parts are present. Assembly waits.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The nucleolus is the largest condensate in the nucleus and the site where ribosomes are built. It has no membrane. It assembles by phase separation, components demixing from the nucleoplasm into a droplet. So what decides when it forms? 🧵🪱💧 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Check out our new paper! iCLAP: an innovative method for integrable codetection of low-abundance antigens with highplex immunostaining Read more about iCLAP here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
🍅🍅 Love this! I think we're all getting at the same thing from different angles, which is what makes it fun. Thanks for sharing, @simonereber.bsky.social!
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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
David Katz @katzlab.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Don’t forget to register for the C. elegans topic meeting June 10-14 in Madison, WI. Early bird registration deadline this Friday 2/27! uwmadison.eventsair.com/mapsdev26/
uwmadison.eventsair.com
Home - 2026 MAPSS + DevCell
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
So many thanks to co-first authors Hongyan Hao, @xiangyiding.bsky.social, and Daniel Elnatan! And to our funders at NIH/NIGMS and @alleninstitute.org! #mechanobiology #frontierscience #Celegans
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
New in @quantamagazine.bsky.social: the science of cytoplasmic crowding. From Liam Holt & Simone Reber's work to our discovery that in vivo cytoplasm is 50x more crowded than cultured cells. Thanks @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social & @gabepopkin.bsky.social! www.quantamagazine.org/the-biophysi...
quantamagazine.org
The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell | Quanta Magazine
Innovations in imaging and genetic engineering are coming together to probe the biophysics of cytoplasm inside living animals.
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Data Bear 🏳️‍🌈 @dataandpolitics.net · 19/02/2026
Forget the calm, spacious cells from your biology textbook. Inside a living cell, it’s less “tidy factory” and more “midnight nightclub and the cytoplasm of worm cells is thick as strawberry jam. Congrats, @gwgl.bsky.social! www.quantamagazine.org/the-biophysi...
quantamagazine.org
The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell | Quanta Magazine
Innovations in imaging and genetic engineering are coming together to probe the biophysics of cytoplasm inside living animals.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
The call for session proposals for Cell Bio 2026 is open. ASCB gives priority to organizers who haven't run a session in the last two years, and they encourage trainees to submit with an experienced co-chair. Deadline: Feb 22. @ascbiology.bsky.social www.ascb.org/cellbio2026/...
ascb.org
Cell Bio 2023-An ASCB|EMBO Meeting
Network, learn, and collaborate with top cell biologists from around the globe.
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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
bioRxiv Bioinfo @biorxiv-bioinfo.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
TaoChongBao: A Large-Scale Caenorhabditis elegans Mutagenesis and Missense Variant Database Bridging Worm and Human Genomes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Alexis Lomakin, Ph.D. @alexis-lomakin.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Endoplasmic reticulum disruption stimulates nuclear membrane mechanotransduction - Nature Cell Biology
Shen, Gelashvili and Niethammer developed an inner nuclear membrane tension sensor and demonstrated that ER–nuclear membrane contiguity acts as a mechanical buffer.
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Dave Matus @davematus.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
So excited to post my first official #zebrafish paper in my new gig at UC Berkeley with my amazing co-authors @swinburnelab.bsky.social @alinetschanz.bsky.social The TL;DR is that monomeric StayGolds are game changers for in vivo imaging in zebrafish 1/7 micropublication.org/journals/bio...
micropublication.org
Systematic comparison of mStayGold and mGold2 variants for live imaging in zebrafish | microPublication
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bioRxiv Genetics @biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
WormTagDB: A Systematic Survey of Endogenously Tagged Proteins in C. elegans and Roadmap Towards the Tagged Proteome www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Grateful to be featured in Nature Methods discussing how @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social and I run the joint Starr-Luxton Lab @ucdavis.bsky.social together. Thanks to Vivien Marx for the thoughtful interview - she really captured what makes this model work. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Two as one: when scientists run a lab together - Nature Methods
Leading a lab is both a venture and an adventure. It’s double that for these researchers.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 06/10/2025
This year’s #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for discovering how the immune system distinguishes friend from foe. scim.ag/3Wt5rdi
scim.ag
Medicine Nobel goes to three researchers who identified immune system’s security guards
Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered regulatory T cells that prevent autoimmune disease
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Nature @nature.com · 06/10/2025
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for discovering a class of immune cells that help to prevent the body from attacking its own tissues go.nature.com/48QDdAJ
go.nature.com
Medicine Nobel goes to scientists who revealed secrets of immune system ‘regulation’
Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi discovered cells that protect the body from autoimmune diseases.
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Write your program officer and grants management official TODAY and thank them! It takes 30 seconds and its really appreciated. The only reason they're remotely this close is because those folks are working 60 hour weeks under immense pressure
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Reposted by GW Gant Luxton
Xiangyi Ding @xiangyiding.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
🎉Check out our new preprint!! 🧬We found that lamin mutations in muscular dystrophy don’t just affect the nucleus — they disrupt a nucleolar–ribosomal axis that reorganizes the entire cytoplasm. Very grateful to @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social, @gwgl.bsky.social and our lab for collaboration & support!
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Therapeutic implications: target ribosome production pathways, not just nuclear proteins. @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social (6/6) #CellBiology #MuscularDystrophy #FrontierScience
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
This changes how we think about laminopathies. It's not just nuclear mechanics or gene regulation - it's fundamental cellular biophysics being rewired by ribosome depletion. (5/6)
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Lamin mutations → disrupted nucleolus → fewer ribosomes → altered cytoplasmic crowding → cellular chaos We call this the "nucleolar-ribosomal axis" and it explains the widespread cellular defects in EDMD. (4/6)
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Using nanoparticle tracking in living C. elegans, we discovered that lamin mutations do not just break nuclear mechanics, they trigger a cascade that reorganizes the entire cytoplasm. (3/6)
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is caused by mutations in nuclear proteins (lamins/emerin). But patients show problems way beyond the nucleus: misplaced organelles, disrupted cell structure, etc. Current models couldn't fully explain this. (2/6)
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
🧬 NEW Starr-Luxton Lab PREPRINT: Our 🌠grad student @XiangyiDing figured out why muscular dystrophy mutations cause such widespread cellular chaos. The answer wasn't what we expected - and it changes how we think about the disease. Thread🧵 (1/6). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
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Dammermann Lab @dammermannlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Centrosomes might look tough, but they are actually big softies - see the latest work from the Dammermann lab now on BioRxiv:
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allen institute @alleninstitute.org · 11/09/2025
Congrats to @xiangyiding.bsky.social et al. on their new study on the intense cellular dance happening in worm cells! 🕺 Dive into the #FrontierScience of organelle crowd control. 👇
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Many thanks to Liana Wait for this fabulous write up!
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
biology.ucdavis.edu/news/worms-r...
biology.ucdavis.edu
Worms Reveal Just How Cramped Cells Really Are
In a new study published in Science Advances on September 10, a team of UC Davis researchers tracked the movement of fluorescent particles inside the cells of microscopic worms, providing unprecedente...
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
🧬Want the full story of our paper without the science jargon? Our @ucdavis.bsky.social department broke down our "cells are crowded AND constrained" findings in plain English! Perfect explanation of why worm cells are nothing like cultured cells 🪱🌠
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Congrats to first authors @xiangyiding.bsky.social, Hongyan Hao, and Daniel Elnatan! This was a fantastic collaboration with Liam Holt at NYU and the Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social -Luxton lab. Many thanks to @alleninstitute.org nstitute and @NIGMS for funding this work. #Frontierscience
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
🧬BREAKING!🪱Plot twist: Cells aren't meditation pools, they're overcrowded concerts with VIP ropes everywhere! Our study reveals worm cells are insanely crowded AND compartmentalized. Ribosomes = packing peanuts, ANC-1 = the bouncer! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Giant KASH proteins and ribosomes establish distinct cytoplasmic biophysical properties in vivo
Living tissues maintain unique intracellular biophysical properties under the control of cytoplasmic constraints and crowding.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
@danstarrucdavis.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
🚨Our fabulous graduate student Selin's paper on how the KASH protein UNC-83 regulates the activity of kinesin-1 to control developmental stage-specific nuclear migration is out! Another great collaboration between the Starr-Luxton and MOM labs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
The KASH protein UNC-83 differentially regulates kinesin-1 activity to control developmental stage-specific nuclear migration
Nuclear migration plays a fundamental role in development, requiring precise spatiotemporal control of bidirectional movement through dynein and kines…
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Dr. Ahna Skop @ahnaskop.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
2025 Worm Show youtu.be/HXgUZzLJ-b0?...
youtu.be
Worm Show 2025
YouTube video by Morris Maduro
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Dr. Ahna Skop @ahnaskop.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Our review is out! Such an honor to publish with Ryoko and Michael-early midbody leaders! The midbody and midbody remnant: from cellular debris to signaling organelle with diagnostic and therapeutic potential www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10....
molbiolcell.org
The midbody and midbody remnant: from cellular debris to signaling organelle with diagnostic and therapeutic potential | Molecular Biology of the Cell
The midbody (MB), a transient structure formed during cytokinesis, has evolved from a mere structural component to a complex signaling organelle with diverse functions beyond cell division. Recent stu...
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Congratulations to Dr. Gümüşderelioğlum from the Starr-Luxton Lab @ucdavis.bsky.social! 🎓 Fresh off her recent PhD defense, she gave an excellent talk this morning at the Cell Biology session of #Worm2025 on UNC-83 molecular switches in nuclear migration. So proud! 👏 #NewPhD #CellBiology
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Incredible plenary presentation by Starr-Luxton Lab student @xiangyiding.bsky.social at the International Worm Meeting! Who knew C. elegans cytoplasm has the viscosity of strawberry jam? 🍓 So proud! #Worm2025 #frontierscience @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
Thank you so much! It was such a joy to see Xiangyi's transformation through the MBL program. Looking forward to the blog post - and thanks for highlighting how these summer courses shape the next generation of scientists!
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VivienM @vivienm.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
So nice that you encouraged her to apply. Oh and she is also in this teeny-tiny blog post. Still in the works. communities.springernature.com/posts/when-s...
communities.springernature.com
When summertime courses transform a science journey
Summer courses can shape one's science and change one's life, too.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
@danstarrucdavis.bsky.social ❤️
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
This kind of transformative mentorship is made possible through our Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group Distinguished Investigator award and NIH support. Grateful to @mblscience.bsky.social for creating such an incredible program for the next generation of scientists! 🔬
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