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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Many questions remain, but we propose that SENA1 is a member of an underappreciated family of proteins that act as "natural molecular lubricants". These proteins may function as biological hydrotropes, preserving the dynamic behavior of highly crowded intracellular environments.

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Sena1 KO mice are embryonic lethal. RNA-seq revealed that dozens of introns in essential genes are almost completely retained. The key question was: why are only these few introns affected, while the hundreds of thousands of other introns are spliced normally?

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Our preprint is now online! Sena1, a "super-disordered" protein, acts as a molecular lubricant that keeps aggregation-prone proteins with extended IDRs moving smoothly in the nucleus. A wonderful collaboration with Dr. Yuki Tomari at the Univ of Tokyo. t.co/RRrLiT1PZW

t.co

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-10164584/v1

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

This is Coilin expression in "nuclear pockets" of spermatids. Hardly belive this is the architectural component of Cajal Bodies!

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Here is our recent preprint on Cajal bodies (CBs)! CBs have long been proposed as sites for snRNA modifications, but this idea has lacked direct evidence. In this study, we generated a new Coilin knockout model and found (1/2) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

Revisiting the in vivo Functions of Coilin in Mice

Cajal bodies (CBs), first identified in the early 20th century, are classic nuclear structures organized primarily by the protein coilin. Although CBs have long been implicated in snRNA modification a...

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

50 days free access link to the retrotransposon/evolution review! authors.elsevier.com/a/1keCScQbJF...

authors.elsevier.com

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Our new review on retrotransposons is out! I contributed to the “antidote theory” for extremely abundant retrotransposons: their massive expansion must be accompanied by the emergence of an “antidote” system to neutralize the toxic effects of insertion events. www.cell.com/trends/genet...

cell.com

Transposon–host arms race: a saga of genome evolution

Once considered ‘junk DNA,’ transposons or transposable elements (TEs) are now recognized as key drivers of genome evolution, contributing to genetic diversity, gene regulation, and species diversific...

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

I hadn’t anticipated that a ‘novel’ gene could be identified using such a straightforward approach. Remarkable dedication and devotion.

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Thanks to the main organizer, Narry Kim, we are excited to host the first on-site “ASIA RNA Network” meeting (formerly ASIA RNA Club) at Seoul National University from November 3-5, 2025. Save the date!

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Reposted by Shinichi Nakagawa

Fyodor Urnov @urnov.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Fellow Genetics professors - rejoice! This is pedagogy heaven: the paradigmatic epiallele in calico cats … is built on a cis-regulatory deletion, not a coding mutation! We can teach it all off 1 paper! 1. Woo 2. Hoooo!!! H/t @lianafaye.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

Molecular and genetic characterization of sex-linked orange coat color in the domestic cat

The Sex-linked orange mutation in domestic cats causes variegated patches of reddish/yellow hair and is a defining signature of random X-inactivation in female tortoiseshell and calico cats. Unlike th...

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Reposted by Shinichi Nakagawa

John Ngo @johntngo.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

We designed MS2 and PP7 binding coat proteins that are degraded in cells except when bound by their hairpin RNAs. You can check out our pre-print here: tinyurl.com/27p7hyt9, and listen to a Google AI-generated podcast on it here: notebooklm.google.com/notebook/d71...

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Reposted by Shinichi Nakagawa

Josh Mendell @mendell-lab.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I’m thrilled to share a collaborative story from @Mendell_lab and Jan Erzberger labs, led by postdoc extraordinaire Xiaoqiang Zhu. We showed that in addition to their canonical decoding function, tRNAs play a key role in regulating mRNA stability during translation! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Specific tRNAs promote mRNA decay by recruiting the CCR4-NOT complex to translating ribosomes

The CCR4-NOT complex is a major regulator of eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) stability. Slow decoding during translation promotes association of CCR4-NOT with ribosomes, accelerating mRNA degradation....

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Reposted by Shinichi Nakagawa

Susan Gasser @susanmgasser.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Two back-to-back papers in Nature comms from mylab explore the link between destabilization of the actin cytoskeleton and aberrant base excision repair - passing through nuclear actin and the actin-dependent nucleosome remodeler INO80C.

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

This will yields 2x mix for 800< reactions. 2 µL 2x mix 2 µL DNA mix 37ºC 5 min, 65ºC 5 min the solution is now ready for transformation. 2x mix solution is stable (-20ºC) at least 3 years in my lab!

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Shinichi Nakagawa @smoltblue.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I am too lazy to prepare the buffer myself, and here is a slightly mofied version. A) 2x mix: NEB buffer 4: 160 µL Glycerol: 1 mL NEB 10xBSA (10 mg/mL): 840 µL B) dilute Exo III (NEB M0265S) 1 in 100 with A Mix 1600 uL of A, 2 µL of B, and 50 µL ExoT (NEB 2170A)

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