Robert Arkowitz

biorxiv.orgTolerance to the antifungal drug fluconazole is mediated by tuning cytoplasmic fluidityTreatment failure rates for fungal infections cannot be explained simply by increased rates of drug resistance. Antifungal drug tolerance, the ability of a susceptible isolate to grow in the presence ...

4 Dec 2025

Excited to share our new study on antifungal drug tolerance in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. This work highlights a link between between drug tolerance and cytoplasmic fluidity. 👇(1/3) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #Science #Microbiology #CellBiology #Fungi

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Korostelev Lab

@korostelevlab.bsky.social

We find that 5MP proteins act as high-fidelity initiation factors, binding 48S scanning complex to bypass weak start codons. We propose renaming them eIF1S (euk. initiation factor 1 scanning). Great collab with @grigoriefflab.bsky.social. Congrats to all co-authors! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

biorxiv.orgThe physical state of the nucleus tracks its function across eukaryotesThe nucleus is consistently less dense than the surrounding cytoplasm, a difference proposed to arise from selective nuclear import. The functional significance of low nuclear density, however, remain...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

BWJones

@bwjones.bsky.social

Within my lifetime, we’ve seen cancer treatments that save lives and prevention cancers. Within my lifetime the infectious disease that killed from AIDS has been relegated to a chronic condition. Why? How? Robust funding of biomedical research that is now under sustained attack from our own govt..

Michael Druker 🇨🇦@mdruker.app

Social media loves talking about how everything is getting worse. But what’s something that you’ve seen get _better_ in your lifetime?

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Edward Wallace

@ewjwallace.bsky.social

No-one knows how yeast take up DNA in transformations. Really! (Ok, endocytosis is required.) We noticed that "yeast transformation mix" w/ Lithium salts, PEG, carrier DNA ... is exactly the mix that chemists use to make DNA phase separate. Our review paper in Yeast Journal! w/ Alistair Elfick 1/

Yeast Journal@yeast-journal.bsky.social

Boost your yeast transformation efficiency 🚀🚀🚀!!! In the latest Yeast review, Alistair Elfick & @ewjwallace.bsky.social discuss approaches that may enable superefficient transformation of S. cerevisiae, and accelerate genetic manipulation of non-model yeasts. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.comApproaches to Superefficient Yeast Transformations: DNA Phase Separation, Cell Growth State and Systematic Experimental DesignYeast transformations are mechanistically poorly understood and could be made orders of magnitude more efficient by three approaches. (1) Investigate mechanisms of DNA uptake including DNA phase sepa...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Nat Prunet

@nat-prunet.bsky.social

www.mbl.edu/news/art-and...

mbl.eduThe Art (and Science) of Microscopes That Expand the Properties of Light We Can Perceive | Marine Biological Laboratory

A reproductive hierarchy controls mating fates among sibling yeast gametes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgbiorxiv.org

science.orgThe AI debate is missing half the systemLast month, leading executives of artificial intelligence (AI) companies warned the United Nations Security Council about the risks of losing human control over this rapidly advancing technology. Thei...

The AI debate is missing half the system | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.comFEBS PressIn Candida albicans, the deletion of MRS4, which encodes a mitochondrial iron importer, abolishes fluconazole tolerance and increases cidality during cotreatment with the iron chelator BPS, without a...

rupress.org/jcb/article/...

rupress.orgSeptins buffer actomyosin forces to protect the nucleus from genotoxic mechanical stressMayca Pozo et al. show that septin filaments are a mechanoprotective cytoskeletal element, buffering actomyosin forces to cushion the nucleus during confin

rupress.org/jcb/article/...

rupress.orgMechanically induced septin networks protect nuclear integrityUtgaard et al. show that septins accumulate at the cortex in response to mechanical cues, where they serve to buffer mechanical forces that act on the nucl

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist

@princess-vimentin.bsky.social

A poll by Nature in 2025 showed that 75% of researchers considered leaving the country due to research disruptions, funding cuts, etc. Other countries are offering our scientists opportunities to do research. If you want people stay, vote blue in November. 🧪 apnews.com/article/trum...

apnews.comMeet the researchers leaving the US because of Trump's funding cuts and politicization of scienceMany American scientists are being recruited by foreign universities holding out offers of stable funding and academic freedom.

www.science.org/content/arti...

science.orgCould your chatbot tip off a scientific rival? It’s possible, researchers sayExperts offer tips for keeping sensitive research private

biorxiv.orgHuman neutrophils release extracellular RNA that modulates Aspergillus fumigatus gene expression across kingdoms.Extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) are emerging as potent bidirectional interkingdom effectors of host-pathogen interactions, particularly in plant and insect systems. Here, using small RNA-sequencing and ge...

biorxiv.orgRegulation of polarity during morphological transitions in Aureobasidium pullulansMany fungi are able to switch between different morphologies by regulating the behavior of the cytoskeleton. In turn, the cytoskeleton is regulated by Rho-family GTPases, whose differing spatiotempora...

biorxiv.orgStructural order emerges without mechanical order inside living cellsIntracellular organization is vital for cell function, and disruption of organelle positioning is connected to severe diseases, such as cancer. Given the small length scale of cells and the importance...

biorxiv.orgFluorescent Biosensors for Cryogenic Correlative Light and Electron MicroscopyCryogenic electron tomography provides nanometer-scale views of subcellular structures but lacks essential physiological context, such as the metabolic state or ion concentration. To bridge this gap, ...

nature.com3D confinement physically regulates cell cycle progression in budding yeast - Nature CommunicationsThe eukaryotic cell cycle is highly responsive to genetic, metabolic, and biochemical regulation. But how do the mechanics of complex natural environments influence this fundamental process? This stud...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Matthew Freeman

@mjafreeman.bsky.social

I wrote something (as did Mehul Malik) More importantly, @royalsociety.org has just launched a series: a practical guide to starting your PI career royalsociety.org/blog/2026/10...

royalsociety.orgThe first member of your team: recruiting a postdoc | Royal SocietyMatthew Freeman contributes to the 'Practical advice for an independent research career' essay series.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.comStress granules at the crossroads of the proteostasis networkThe proteostasis network maintains cell function by safeguarding the proteome through the coordinated actions of protein synthesis, quality control, and degradation machinery including chaperones a...

nature.comA selective NVL inhibitor suppresses tumor growth by targeting ribosome biogenesis - Nature Chemical BiologyGuo, Tao and Cruz et al. identified a selective inhibitor named MM17 of nuclear valosin-containing protein-like (NVL), an AAA+ ATPase responsible for assembly of large ribosome subunit (60S). A bioava...

dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

dx.plos.orgThe Cryptococcus neoformans titanide is a pathogenic cell type that arises from typical yeast cells in response to host conditionsCryptococcus neoformans cells can adopt many different phenotypes during infection. This study uses microfluidics to show that one such form, titanides, arise from typical yeast cells and form a disti...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

preLights

@prelights.bsky.social

Intrinsic3D, a new imaging approach that allows researchers to image entire cells + tissues in 3D at single-molecule resolution, making large-volume super-resolution imaging faster & easier. @kanishka03.bsky.social covers work #StJohnstonLab - #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/f...

prelights.biologists.comFast single molecule localization microscopy in 3D - preLightsIntrinsic3D, a new imaging approach that allows researchers to image entire cells and tissues in 3D at single-molecule resolution, making large-volume super-resolution imaging faster and easier.

Jia Chen@chenjiajiachen.bsky.social

Fresh preprint from St Johnston lab in collaboration with Paluch lab. "Fast, 3D SMLM imaging modality, Intrinsic3D, which combines the speed and optical sectioning of oblique plane microscopy (OPM) with the nanometre resolution of SMLM using DNAPAINT". Amazing imaging, here is one of my favourite:

rupress.orgLipid remodeling enables adaptation to chronic hyperosmotic stressHow cells adapt their membranes to prolonged stress is poorly understood. Williams et al. show that chronic hyperosmotic stress triggers lipid droplet accu

Lipid remodeling enables adaptation to chronic hyperosmotic stress rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Jean Léon Maître

@maitrejl.bsky.social

Bloop 🫧 bloop 🫧 bloop 🫧 Fluid-filled lumens are everywhere in our body How do they get soooo big? We find that osmotic pressure vastly dominates mechanical forces in controlling lumen swelling in mouse embryos biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @louise-dagher.bsky.social @matteo-bassanini.bsky.social

Quantitative profiling of basal and stress-induced ribosome collisions www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgbiorxiv.org

Unexpected ribosome turnover during prolonged translation inhibition www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgbiorxiv.org

nature.comHow to write a rebuttal letter - Nature MethodsThe rebuttal letter is a vitally important document when revising a manuscript for a journal. Here we discuss how to communicate about your manuscript revisions in the best possible light.

science.orgExclusive: An AI agent emailed hundreds of researchers for help. It told us whyTo get to the bottom of this perplexing behavior, Science interviewed the agent

Exclusive: An AI agent emailed hundreds of researchers for help. It told us why | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

nature.comProteome-guided drug discovery maps and mitigates therapeutic degrader toxicity - Nature Chemical BiologySystematic proteomic profiling uncovered mechanisms driving drug toxicity informing the design of safer and more effective protein degraders for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Tom Gauld

@tomgauld.bsky.social

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Noelle Dwyer

@noelledwyerphd.bsky.social

AI companies already scrape preprint data for profit, before publication (and BioRxiv says that is allowed). So AI companies or individual humans using AI can easily scoop you that way, too. Or just give the oligarch your data directly? "Like taking candy from a baby"

Nature [Unofficial]@nature.com.web.brid.gy

nature.comWill AI scoop your science? Some researchers see a gloomy futureNature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03128-6 Scientists worry that increasingly capable large language models will beat them to discoveries.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.orgGolgi-derived vesicles containing PI(3,4)P2 drive mitochondrial fusionMitochondria are dynamic organelles that remodel their shape to regulate cell fate. Mitochondrial division involves interactions with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), lysosomes, and trans-Golgi network...

nature.comA bipartite glucan synthase-remodeler module organizes branched glucan assembly in the fungal cell wall - Nature CommunicationsFungal cell walls require glucan polymers to be synthesized and remodeled. Here, authors identify a synthase-remodeler pair that works together to build branched β-glucan and shape cell wall architect...

www.molbiolcell.org/doi/abs/10.1...

molbiolcell.orgSeptins regulate cytokinesis and multicellular development in the closest living relatives of animals | Molecular Biology of the CellSeptins are cytoskeletal proteins that regulate cytokinesis in fungi and animals, yet their functions in choanoflagellates—the closest living relatives of animals—have remained unknown. Salpingoeca ro...

nature.comOpenAI posts 700 maths preprints online: mathematicians are up in armsThe firm used unreleased models to tackle hundreds of high-profile problems.

OpenAI posts 700 maths preprints online: mathematicians are up in arms www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.comOvercoming key challenges in the evolutionary transition to multicellularity - NatureThis Review synthesizes an evolutionary framework for understanding the key stages, challenges and microevolutionary processes through which single cells evolve into functionally integrated multi...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Sophie G Martin

@sophiemartinlab.bsky.social

Happy to share our latest work showing that fungal cell fusion not only requires local cell wall digestion but also inhibition of cell wall repair! PAK-family kinases promote cell fusion irreversibility by preventing cell-wall repair doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... Led by @juliacoronasserna.bsky.social

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Jean Léon Maître

@maitrejl.bsky.social

📣Our department is hiring a new group leader!📣 Want to start your team in a vibrant scientific environment in the center of Paris? I was very lucky to do that 10 years ago, reach out if you have any question. Apply by December 18th: jpi-recruitment-curie-umr3215-u934.curie.fr

nature.comBacteria regulate collective behaviour by mechanosensing cell–cell collisions - Nature MicrobiologyDensity-dependent regulation of collective order through collision sensing and collision-induced reversals provides a navigational advantage to Pseudomonas aeruginosa during surface colonization and n...

Robert Arkowitz reposted

Nature

@nature.com

An analysis showcases the past half-century’s biggest cancer success stories — but also those that continue to vex researchers. Overall, 71% of people with cancer in the United States will live for at least five years after diagnosis, versus 49% in the late 1970s go.nature.com/4dmCPLS

go.nature.comThe top cancer success stories of the past 50 years, by the numbersNature - Outcomes have improved drastically in the United States for some forms of the disease, but those for others continue to lag.

nytimes.comReligious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them. (Gift Article)In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its A.I. models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious.

Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/u...

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

journals.asm.orgA small molecule increases mycobacterial translation fidelity without a fitness cost by targeting ribosomal protein S5 | mBioA fundamental principle in molecular biology holds that ribosomes face a trade-off between translation speed and accuracy: going faster means making more errors, while maintaining high fidelity requires slowing down. This study challenges that paradigm by identifying a small molecule that increases translational accuracy in mycobacteria without affecting the rate of protein synthesis. The compound targets ribosomal protein S5 and specifically reduces errors arising from physiologically mischarged tRNAs—a quality control problem distinct from the well-studied codon-anticodon mismatches. This form of mistranslation contributes to antibiotic tolerance in tuberculosis, making it a potential therapeutic target. Our findings reveal unexpected flexibility in how ribosomes maintain translation quality and suggest that pharmacologically increasing fidelity without the fitness cost of slowed protein synthesis may be an attractive strategy for combating antibiotic-tolerant bacteria.

Robert Arkowitz reposted

The EMBO Journal

@embojournal.org

How about stress-induced ribosome hibernation in archaea? @diorgeps.bsky.social, @archaeon-alex.bsky.social, Joey Davis et al identify conserved archaeal factor AHA with evolutionary link to bacterial hibernation-promoting factor HPF & eukaryotic energy sensor AMPKγ link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.comA conserved archaeal protein with evolutionary links to bacterial ribosome hibernation and eukaryotic energy sensing - The EMBO JournalRibosome hibernation helps cells survive stress by reversibly silencing translation and preserving ribosomal complexes. Although well characterized in bacteria and eukaryotes, archaeal hibernation rem...

github.comGitHub - arjunrajlaboratory/mycelium: For setting up a living datasetFor setting up a living dataset. Contribute to arjunrajlaboratory/mycelium development by creating an account on GitHub.

cool, people tried/used this? github.com/arjunrajlabo...