Dan Grabarczyk

I am thrilled to share that my PhD work is now published online in Molecular Cell! 🎉 www.cell.com/molecular-ce... Have a look if you like to learn how the essential amino acid tryptophan directly controls the stability of its metabolic enzyme TDO2 besides its role as a substrate!

Happy to share my PhD work on the regulatory mechanism of E3 ligase RNF213! RNF213 is not a monomer, but a dimer that switches between inhibited and activated states in an ATP-dependent manner. We tracked the activation mechanism and showed how disease mutations can destabilize the inhibited state.

Molecular mechanism of HUWE1-HAPSTR1-USP7-mediated ubiquitin chain amplification on nuclear proteins

Coenzyme A biosynthesis is regulated by two distinct Ubiquitin E3 ligase complexes | UBR4-KCMF1 and MKLN1-CTLH independently converge on a common N-terminal MK Arg/N-degron to promote PANK degradation and restrict CoA biosynthesis | @ispt-proteinterm.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

IMP postdoc Elias Adriaenssens has received an ERC Starting Grant worth close to €1.5 million. He will study how cells decide when to dispose of their organelles—and how they prevent healthy ones from being destroyed: https://bit.ly/4zUBQMy

Ever wondered why mutating BIG/AtUBR4 causes pleiotropic 🌿 phenotypes? Find a whistle stop tour of the literature in our latest review, with expert structural insight from @dangrabarczyk.bsky.social and @clausenlab.bsky.social academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

Out now in @natmicrobiol.nature.com: Bacillus subtilis builds protein filaments that act as a pseudomembrane, pulling quinone out of the bilayer and carrying it into the cytosol for reduction by NADH dehydrogenase, well away from the membrane itself. doi.org/10.1038/s415... 1/5

Huge effort from the Lab into the mechanics of the mysterious #ubiquitin like protein FAT10 – taking structural snapshots of FAT10 activation by UBA6 and transfer onto UBE2Z plus really interesting insights into InsP6 regulating FAT10 conjugation pathways: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excited to share my paper! 🥳 Today in #Nature we reveal an 8 MDa Hdr electron bifurcating super-assembly in class I methanogens that couples the first and last steps of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. A lineage-specific adaptation to anaerobic niches. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1/ Happy to share our preprint! The Mtr complex catalyses the second-to-last step of the methanogenesis and is an essential bioenergetic machine in most methanogenic archaea. Anaerobic cryo-EM of Mtr reveals a nitrogenase-like metallocluster bound at its active site! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Super excited to launch this search for a new endowed professor at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch! Join us to build a research cluster in Climate Biophysics! 🌍🌊🌾🔬🧪 This is a unique opportunity to create a community in Basel🇨🇭working together on this timely topic! ⏳🌡️ Questions? Please reach out! 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬

Membrane protein solubilization and structure determination using de novo–designed proteins | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1/7 New preprint: we found that Chlamydomonas carries a giant and unexpectedly elaborate chloroplast RNA polymerase with 12 previously unknown subunits, overturning the idea that the complexity of this organellar enzyme emerged during plant terrestrialization! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Structural and mechanistic insights into the UBR4-KCMF1-Calmodulin complex @ispt-proteinterm.bsky.social academic.oup.com/proteincell/...

🔍 Sample heterogeneity is both a challenge and an opportunity in #cryoEM data processing. In our latest #CryoSPARC case study we explore EMPIAR-10927, a dataset with acetogenin-bound mitochondrial Complex I, that reveals many more complexes according to the data processing strategy 👉 bit.ly/4uihh8V

New preprint. In S. sanguinis, a C5a peptidase-like protease (ScpH) polymerizes along eDNA, turning it into a catalytic biofilm scaffold. Great work from @robinanger.bsky.social in our lab, with Pelicic lab @lcbofficiel.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Open Postdoc Position - Giant E3 ligases: mysterious mechanisms & non‑protein substrates. Interested? Join us to uncover how these molecular giants tag lipids, RNAs, sugars beyond proteins, on organelles and pathogens, to defend the cell. Details & Application here www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

Preprint with new server~ Using in situ cryo-ET, we identify a previously uncharacterized higher-order architecture of urate oxidase in mouse liver. langtaosha.org.cn/lts/en/prepr...

Excited to share our work on the structure and function of cytoplasmic lattices within mouse embryos. A collaborative effort with @niakanlab.bsky.social and work led by @kashishsingh.bsky.social and @inaharasimov.bsky.social . It is now out on BioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Proper organelle regulation during mitosis is a must, but how do membrane-less condensates like PML bodies behave during cell division? In work led by Eric Aird, we found the balance of speckled proteins SP110 & SP100 to be the key. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Registration now open for #EMBOUbiquitin. meetings.embo.org/event/26-ubi... Childcare, accessibility, and travel grants available. #ubiquitin #TargetedProteinDegradation #Proteostasis #UBL

We are excited to be recruiting a new tenure track group leader in the Structural Studies Division at MRC LMB! It is an amazing place to start your own lab. @mrclmb.bsky.social Please get in touch if you have any questions. www.nature.com/naturecareer...

The new ChimeraX CubeNTube plugin allows erasing parts of maps using cube, cylinder, and custom shapes and has undo. Created by Tamino Cairoli. Available from ChimeraX menu Tools / More Tools....

Our paper is out in @natcomms.nature.com! APOBEC3s drive mutagenesis in cancer. We uncover a novel pathway keeping them in check. The key is APOBEC3 binding of cellular RNAs, which simultaneously controls their nuclear localization and shields them from degradation. Read it here: rdcu.be/e4qaa

To regulate gene activity, proteasomes - waste disposal machines of cells - must enter the nucleus. IMP Researchers now show how the adaptor protein AKIRIN2 helps ferry this massive complex through the nuclear pore: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69162-0

Some cool E3 ligase structures here with calmodulin-mediated oligomerisation. Also interesting collection/processing to deal with preferred orientation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@lorenzoorts.bsky.social previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow at @impvienna.bsky.social in Austria. She will establish a new lab at IMB to investigate how mRNA translation is activated in the early embryo. Welcome to IMB Laura! 💐 Read more here: www.imb.de/about-imb/ne...

After a long (but fun!) postdoc journey, I am very excited to share that I will start my own lab in the Ubiquitin Signalling Division at WEHI. We will study how ubiquitin controls mitochondrial health and its role in neurodegenerative disease. Hiring soon!

When RNA Degradation 🤝 meets 🤝 Protein Degradation! tinyurl.com/E3TDMD In a collaboration of @bartellab.bsky.social and Schulman lab, we show that, in target-directed microRNA degradation (TDMD), 2-RNA-factors recruit an E3 ligase and induce the degradation of not only a protein but also RNA (1/5).

Vaults. They are cell biology's greatest puzzle! This preprint from Martin Beck's lab shows them docked on ER membranes with a ribosome inside. What on earth is going on there?? #CellBiology #WTFology www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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SAVE THE DATE! The EMBO workshop "Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like proteins in Health and Disease" will be on September 2026. Exciting line up of talks and an amazing location! Organised by @kulathu.bsky.social, @merbllab.bsky.social, @simonapolo.bsky.social, Claudio Joazeiro. Registration open soon.

Very happy to share our collaborative project on FAM118 proteins - noncanonical sirtuins that form filaments and process NAD in human and other vertebrate cells.

A new Review discusses how degrons of different types, with an emphasis on high-order structural ones, regulate substrate-E3 interactions and how their dysregulation is linked to human diseases www.nature.com/articles/s41...

An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

📢 Open Call! The Max Perutz Labs invite applications for a Full Professorship in Integrative Structure Biology with a focus on in situ structural biology using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and related methods. More details ➡️ tinyurl.com/brswbymu

Split-site ubiquitination gives ZNFX1 new power in RNA defense @cellcellpress.bsky.social www.cell.com/molecular-ce... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Elaborate machinery for inserting proteins into the outer membrane of bacteria www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Structure and substrate recognition by the Twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway core complex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.18.677151v1

Thanks a lot to Yiyun Song @natchembio.nature.com for highlighting our ZNFX1 paper. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We have an open post-doc position in my group to study mRNA cleavage and polyadenylation using biochemical reconstitution and cryoEM. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining this amazing team! 🔬🧬🤩 #RNA #cryoEM

I am excited to share our new preprint on the CAGE complex, a mysterious hollow protein complex that I first saw years ago while surveying Tetrahymena ciliary lysate www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #cilia #protistsonsky 🧬🧪

I am excited to announce that I will be moving to IMB Mainz next year! The Winter call for the IPP PhD program is now open; if you are interested in maternal #mRNA regulation and #translation in early vertebrate development, please apply! Deadline: 16 October. More info: www.imb.de/students-pos...

Pre-print: our description of RZ affiliate ZNFX1 is now online. On binding viral RNA, ZNFX1 generates parallel Ub currents, coordinating Ub-dependent RNA silencing and aggregate resolution. Huge effort from first authors Dan Squair and @eilidhrivers.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Researchers around @clausenlab.bsky.social & @dangrabarczyk.bsky.social have unveiled the three-dimensional structure of UBR4, a giant protein complex that safeguards cells by targeting defective proteins for destruction—offering fresh insights into health & disease. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Scientists uncovered how the immune protein ZNFX1 enables cells to walk the fine line between fighting infection & avoiding autoimmune damage. ZNFX1 can ubiquitinate & compact host & viral RNA into molecular condensates, extending ubiquitin biology to RNA itself. More: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...

Happy to share our work on the structure and function of the unusual E3 ligase ZNFX1 @cp-cell.bsky.social. It uses a nucleic acid-activated transthiolation mechanism, ubiquitinating and clustering RNA to protect cells in an immune response. @clausenlab.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Opening for a biochemist to help us in the characterisation of novel ubiquitin-based antivirals. Diverse backgrounds welcomed; a keen sense of adventure is a must 😁 Details and criteria are below; please get in touch with any questions. www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...