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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

6/ This work was driven by the amazing Amrutha in our lab and was made possible through fantastic collaborations with Clinton Yu, Lan Huang and Claudia Benavente at UC Irvine. Check out the preprint and let us know what you think! #CellBiology #CancerResearch #Mitosis #Meiosis #CyclinB3

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

5/ We also used phospho-mass spectrometry to identify substrates of cyclin B3 during mitosis. Overall, we identified cyclin B3 as a selective driver of cancer cell division, which could represent a mitotic vulnerability specific to cancer.

Proposed mechanism by which cyclin B3 drives cancer cell mitosis

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

4/ This function holds across multiple cancer cell lines from diverse origins. However, non-transformed (normal) cells are not affected by cyclin B3 depletion, consistent with the fact that cyclin B3 mutations don't appear to affect normal human development beyond oocyte maturation.

Quantification of mitotic timing in various normal and cancerous cell lines, either control or treated with siRNAs against cyclin B3

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

3/ Our data revealed that Cyclin B3 is not only expressed in mitotic HeLa cells, but it is also critical for the normal pace of mitosis and ensuring proper chromosome alignment and segregation.

Immunofluorescence images of cyclin B3 depleted cells, as well as quantification of mitotic chromosome alignment errors in cyclin B3 depleted cells

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

2/ Our work centers on cyclin B3, a meiotic B-type cyclin known for its essential role in promoting the completion of meiosis I in oocytes. However, it is assumed that this B-type cyclin does not play significant roles outside of female meiosis rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Images showing oocytes undergoing meiosis I under the specified conditions. Note that Ccnb3-/- oocytes arrest in meiosis I. Credit: DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201808091

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

1/ 🚨 Excited to share the second preprint of the year from our lab! We uncovered how a cell cycle protein known to promote oocyte meiosis also plays a critical role in cancer cell mitosis. @ucibiosci.bsky.social @ucirvine.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Sachin Kotak @spindlebehavior.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Can light build centrosome-like activity? 💡🔬 Yes! We introduce LISA (Light-Induced Spindle Assembly), now in @emboreports.org. By clustering Aurora A with optogenetics, we build centrosome-like activity that nucleates microtubules and rescues spindle defects after centrosome loss. shorturl.at/9h3VQ

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Carlos Conde @carlos-conde.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Our latest preprint: elevated MPS1 drives CIN in colon cancer by sustaining the fibrous corona at metaphase kinetochores. This untimely persistence creates an extra microtubule-engagement domain providing a structural basis for merotely and chromosome mis-segregation. doi.org/10.64898/202...

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Florian Bernard @florianbrnrd.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Everyone reduces dimensions. We reduced cells. Read our latest work on bioRxiv: Quantitative Description of C. elegans mRNA Landscapes From High Coverage Single-Cell Transcriptomes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This work was led by David Bojorquez, a talented graduate student in the lab. And huge thanks to our amazing collaborator Lee Bardwell @leebardwell.bsky.social, without whom this work would not have been possible. (7/7) #DevBio #CellBiology #Embryogenesis #Celegans #mitosis

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

In summary, the activation of the cyclin B3–CDK1 complex during early development does two jobs: driving mitotic divisions AND promoting OMA degradation to de-repress maternally loaded transcripts and enable early gene expression in the embryo. (6/7)

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

We show that cyclin B3–CDK1 promotes multi-site OMA phosphorylation to generate phosphodegrons and ensure its timely degradation, to subsequently drive mRNA de-repression. (5/7)

In vitro kinase assay using purified OMA-2 and cyclin B3-CDK1 complexes

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Looking into potential targets, we identified the OMA RNA-binding proteins, known repressors of translation that must be degraded to allow early gene expression, as targets of the cyclin B3–CDK1 complex during embryogenesis. (4/7)

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

In this new manuscript, we reveal a second function of the cyclin B3–CDK1 complex. The key? A separation-of-function mutant we engineered by disrupting its conserved phosphate-binding pocket. Pocket mutant cyclin B3 still supports mitosis but leads to penetrant embryonic lethality (3/7)

AlphaFold3 model of cyclin B3 in complex with CDK1 showing two key binding surfaces: hydrophobic patch (HP) and phosphate binding pocket (PBP), as well as alignments showing their evolutionary conservation

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Pablo Lara-Gonzalez @xtpablo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

My lab has been interested in understanding the mechanisms that drive mitotic divisions. In 2024, we showed that cyclin B3 is a key driver of mitotic divisions in C. elegans by acting as a hyperactivator of CDK1. But it turns out that's only half the story. (2/7) rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Images showing C. elegans embryos with green microtubules and magenta chromosomes undergoing mitosis after being treated with RNAi against cyclin B1 or cyclin B3

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Genes & Development @genesdev.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

📽️ G&D Tapes 📽️ G&D Author, Jeongmin An, tells us about how kinase STK38L serves as a negative regulator of Hippo signaling, and its implications for development and cancer. In this issue of #genesdev: ➡️ genesdev.cshlp.org/content/40/13-14… UC Irvine #Hippo #YAP #cancer

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Genes & Development @genesdev.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

🆕 ADVANCE ONLINE 🆕 RESEARCH PAPER: STK38/L promote tissue growth and cancer by inhibiting the Hippo pathway By An et al. and Wenqi Wang ➡️ ow.ly/FweF50Zae9J UC Irvine #Hippo #YAP #Drosophila #cancer

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · 08/02/2025

This is what amounts to an ILLEGAL & indiscriminate funding cut for research centers everywhere. It will mean shuttering labs across the country, layoffs in red & blue states, and derailing lifesaving research on everything from cancer to opioid addiction. We all need to speak out to save lives.

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Dequina Nicholas @quinascience.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

This is a full on assault on education. The US is the world leader in innovation research, technology only because we as a society support it. Without support for world leading research, we will brain drain and the best and brightest will go where research thrives www.statnews.com/2025/02/07/n...

statnews.com

NIH plans to slash support for indirect research costs, sending shockwaves through science

The NIH said Friday night that it would slash support for indirect costs on all existing and future grants to 15%

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Reposted by Pablo Lara-Gonzalez

Katie Thompson-Peer @thompsonpeerlab.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Inspired by this post, I'm hosting a phonebank at UC Irvine next week. Join if you're interested!

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