Aleksander Szczurek
@aleksszczurek.bsky.social
Researcher @UniofOxford in single molecule imaging of gene regulation at @RobKlose lab
I paint: https://aleksanderszczurek.wixsite.com/ats-art
I paint: https://aleksanderszczurek.wixsite.com/ats-art
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
ERC starter grant applications from US researchers nearly triple in 2025 compared to 2024 as Trump restricts funding. Good for "Choose Europe" initiatives, but dire for global and national science, given the limited volume of non-US funding available.
Trump’s university backlash drives US researchers towards Europe
EU grant applications hit record in 2025 amid surge in interest from American academics
www.ft.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:37 AM
ERC starter grant applications from US researchers nearly triple in 2025 compared to 2024 as Trump restricts funding. Good for "Choose Europe" initiatives, but dire for global and national science, given the limited volume of non-US funding available.
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
A new, nerdy paper. We figured out (some) of the rules underlying cell-permeability of probes and designed ligands that light up, grab, and move proteins around. Awesome @hhmijanelia.bsky.social x @uwmadison.bsky.social x @stjuderesearch.bsky.social collaboration! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 27, 2025 at 9:43 PM
A new, nerdy paper. We figured out (some) of the rules underlying cell-permeability of probes and designed ligands that light up, grab, and move proteins around. Awesome @hhmijanelia.bsky.social x @uwmadison.bsky.social x @stjuderesearch.bsky.social collaboration! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
🧬 New preprint!
SNU-Seq maps nascent transcription at single-nucleotide resolution using 4sU labeling.
Together with sf4sU-Seq, it shows how epigenetically primed chromatin rapidly activates transcription after IFN-γ.
📄 doi.org/10.1101/2021...
#SNUSeq #RNAseq
SNU-Seq maps nascent transcription at single-nucleotide resolution using 4sU labeling.
Together with sf4sU-Seq, it shows how epigenetically primed chromatin rapidly activates transcription after IFN-γ.
📄 doi.org/10.1101/2021...
#SNUSeq #RNAseq
Single Nucleotide Resolution 4sU Sequencing (SNU-Seq) reveals the transcriptional responsiveness of an epigenetically primed human genome
Genomes are pervasively transcribed, leading to stable and unstable transcripts that influence 3-dimensional genome organisation and gene regulation. High sensitivity and nucleotide resolution are req...
doi.org
October 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
🧬 New preprint!
SNU-Seq maps nascent transcription at single-nucleotide resolution using 4sU labeling.
Together with sf4sU-Seq, it shows how epigenetically primed chromatin rapidly activates transcription after IFN-γ.
📄 doi.org/10.1101/2021...
#SNUSeq #RNAseq
SNU-Seq maps nascent transcription at single-nucleotide resolution using 4sU labeling.
Together with sf4sU-Seq, it shows how epigenetically primed chromatin rapidly activates transcription after IFN-γ.
📄 doi.org/10.1101/2021...
#SNUSeq #RNAseq
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
I’m a fair-weather poster on here to say the least. However, I'm pleased to present our latest paper. A great effort from all authors and an interesting insight into transcriptional regulation (we think!).
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Sequential verification of transcription by Integrator and Restrictor
Estell and Łazowski et al. show that Integrator and Restrictor form distinct pathways
for early attenuation of RNA polymerase II: Integrator acts at the promoter-proximal
pause site, whereas Restricto...
www.cell.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I’m a fair-weather poster on here to say the least. However, I'm pleased to present our latest paper. A great effort from all authors and an interesting insight into transcriptional regulation (we think!).
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
If you are a computational biologist come, apply and join Howard & Klose lab in a joint Norwich-Oxford collaboration on chromatin dynamics!
VACANCY - We have an opportunity for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Howard Group, working to develop computational models of epigenetic dynamics in the Polycomb system.
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Closing date - 9 November 2025
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - 36 months, full-time
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Closing date - 9 November 2025
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - 36 months, full-time
Postdoctoral Researcher (Howard Group) | John Innes Centre
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Howard Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Computational and Systems Biology.
www.jic.ac.uk
October 8, 2025 at 10:44 AM
If you are a computational biologist come, apply and join Howard & Klose lab in a joint Norwich-Oxford collaboration on chromatin dynamics!
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
If you are a computational biologist interested in how chromatin states are established and maintained to regulate transcription, this is the dream job for you! This will be in close collaboration with the Klose lab in Oxford and we have a lot of cool projects you can get involved in. Apply!
VACANCY - We have an opportunity for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Howard Group, working to develop computational models of epigenetic dynamics in the Polycomb system.
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Closing date - 9 November 2025
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - 36 months, full-time
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Closing date - 9 November 2025
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - 36 months, full-time
Postdoctoral Researcher (Howard Group) | John Innes Centre
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Howard Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Computational and Systems Biology.
www.jic.ac.uk
October 6, 2025 at 8:17 PM
If you are a computational biologist interested in how chromatin states are established and maintained to regulate transcription, this is the dream job for you! This will be in close collaboration with the Klose lab in Oxford and we have a lot of cool projects you can get involved in. Apply!
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Delighted to share our lab's first preprint identifying DDIAS as a mitotic DNA repair protein. Great collaboration with the @andrewblackford.bsky.social, @tcr-miller.bsky.social and @profstewartlab.bsky.social labs, and many more. Read the paper here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
DDIAS is a single-stranded DNA-binding effector of the TOPBP1-CIP2A complex in mitosis
DNA double-strand breaks and unresolved DNA replication intermediates are particularly dangerous during mitosis. Paradoxically, cells inactivate canonical DNA repair mechanisms during chromosome segre...
www.biorxiv.org
September 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Delighted to share our lab's first preprint identifying DDIAS as a mitotic DNA repair protein. Great collaboration with the @andrewblackford.bsky.social, @tcr-miller.bsky.social and @profstewartlab.bsky.social labs, and many more. Read the paper here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Double celebration on our floor @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social with @guifengwei.bsky.social from the Brockdorff lab and Dounia and Sherry from Fisher lab having their papers published today! And I hear there is more to come...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
m6A and the NEXT complex direct Xist RNA turnover and X-inactivation dynamics - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Wei et al. show that the primary function of m6A on the nuclear long noncoding RNA Xist, a master regulator of X inactivation, is to promote RNA degradation. Xist turnover is mediated by the nuclear e...
www.nature.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Double celebration on our floor @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social with @guifengwei.bsky.social from the Brockdorff lab and Dounia and Sherry from Fisher lab having their papers published today! And I hear there is more to come...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Do you know where transcription of a gene actually stops? Hint: it is not the annotated gene end.
In our new paper in Nucleic Acids Research we argue that phosphorylation on threonine 4 of RNA Pol II CTD is a marker of transcription termination in animals... 🧵
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
In our new paper in Nucleic Acids Research we argue that phosphorylation on threonine 4 of RNA Pol II CTD is a marker of transcription termination in animals... 🧵
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
December 27, 2024 at 4:01 PM
Do you know where transcription of a gene actually stops? Hint: it is not the annotated gene end.
In our new paper in Nucleic Acids Research we argue that phosphorylation on threonine 4 of RNA Pol II CTD is a marker of transcription termination in animals... 🧵
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
In our new paper in Nucleic Acids Research we argue that phosphorylation on threonine 4 of RNA Pol II CTD is a marker of transcription termination in animals... 🧵
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Check out our new collaborative preprint about Affinity-ligand purification of native human low-abundance multi-protein complexes doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Affinity-ligand purification of native human low-abundance multi-protein complexes for structure determination
In human cells, large multi-protein transcription co-activators, such as chromatin remodelers or histone acetyltransferases, play critical roles in gene-expression regulation and are often implicated ...
doi.org
August 12, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Check out our new collaborative preprint about Affinity-ligand purification of native human low-abundance multi-protein complexes doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Registration for Transcription and Chromatin UK is OPEN! Taking place from September 17 to 19, 2025, this conference will showcase cutting-edge research and is a ‘must-attend’ event for the UK transcription and chromatin community & both at home and abroad.
Pl register ow.ly/7QQb50W9Alo & share
Pl register ow.ly/7QQb50W9Alo & share
June 26, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Registration for Transcription and Chromatin UK is OPEN! Taking place from September 17 to 19, 2025, this conference will showcase cutting-edge research and is a ‘must-attend’ event for the UK transcription and chromatin community & both at home and abroad.
Pl register ow.ly/7QQb50W9Alo & share
Pl register ow.ly/7QQb50W9Alo & share
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Fresh preprint by @flavia-con.bsky.social from our lab uncovers how SMCHD1 finds & binds chromatin using live-cell single-molecule imaging🔬
She reveals how SMCHD1 dynamically engages chromatin, including the inactive X chromosome, to maintain gene silencing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
She reveals how SMCHD1 dynamically engages chromatin, including the inactive X chromosome, to maintain gene silencing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Selective interaction of the protein SMCHD1 with specific chromatin regions is governed by the loading factor LRIF1 and SMCHD1 ATPase activity
The chromosomal protein SMCHD1 is a GHKL ATPase that plays important roles in epigenetic silencing, including on the inactive X chromosome (Xi) and at the D4Z4 macrosatellite linked to regulation of D...
www.biorxiv.org
June 26, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Fresh preprint by @flavia-con.bsky.social from our lab uncovers how SMCHD1 finds & binds chromatin using live-cell single-molecule imaging🔬
She reveals how SMCHD1 dynamically engages chromatin, including the inactive X chromosome, to maintain gene silencing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
She reveals how SMCHD1 dynamically engages chromatin, including the inactive X chromosome, to maintain gene silencing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Check out new paper on single-molecule live-cell imaging of SMCHD1 binding to an inactive X chromosome by Flavia Constantinescu from Neil Brockdorff's team! :)
www.biorxiv.org
June 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Check out new paper on single-molecule live-cell imaging of SMCHD1 binding to an inactive X chromosome by Flavia Constantinescu from Neil Brockdorff's team! :)
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Also noted: The first two blastomeres contribute unequally to the human embryo. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
The first two blastomeres contribute unequally to the human embryo
Labeling and live imaging of human embryos reveal that the majority of the future
body originates, mostly, from one of the 2-cell stage blastomeres. Descendants of
the first 2-cell stage blastomere to...
www.cell.com
May 6, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Also noted: The first two blastomeres contribute unequally to the human embryo. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
All you nuclear biologists out there: Here is a cautionary tale not to be fooled by peripheral organelle staining. It might just be that your antibody got trapped because it is "too good".
🚨 Preprint alert 🚨
Excited to share our work on "Ab-trapping," an antibody artifact causing misleading peripheral ("rim") staining in imaging & genomics (IF, CUT&Tag, CUT&RUN). Antibodies fail to penetrate structures, accumulating at the periphery. A 🧵👇
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Excited to share our work on "Ab-trapping," an antibody artifact causing misleading peripheral ("rim") staining in imaging & genomics (IF, CUT&Tag, CUT&RUN). Antibodies fail to penetrate structures, accumulating at the periphery. A 🧵👇
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Ab-trapping - a peripheral staining artifact in antibody-based microscopy and genomics
Antibodies (Ab) are essential for detecting specific epitopes in microscopy and genomics, but can produce artifacts leading to erroneous interpretations. Here, we characterize a novel artifact, Ab-tra...
doi.org
April 16, 2025 at 5:15 PM
All you nuclear biologists out there: Here is a cautionary tale not to be fooled by peripheral organelle staining. It might just be that your antibody got trapped because it is "too good".
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
🧵 1/6
Just dropped in @naturecomms.bsky.social
We’ve engineered the most photostable yellow fluorescent proteins (YFPs) to date—mGold2s and mGold2t—with up to 25× greater photostability than mVenus and mCitrine, without compromising brightness.
👇
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Just dropped in @naturecomms.bsky.social
We’ve engineered the most photostable yellow fluorescent proteins (YFPs) to date—mGold2s and mGold2t—with up to 25× greater photostability than mVenus and mCitrine, without compromising brightness.
👇
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
April 9, 2025 at 8:59 PM
🧵 1/6
Just dropped in @naturecomms.bsky.social
We’ve engineered the most photostable yellow fluorescent proteins (YFPs) to date—mGold2s and mGold2t—with up to 25× greater photostability than mVenus and mCitrine, without compromising brightness.
👇
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Just dropped in @naturecomms.bsky.social
We’ve engineered the most photostable yellow fluorescent proteins (YFPs) to date—mGold2s and mGold2t—with up to 25× greater photostability than mVenus and mCitrine, without compromising brightness.
👇
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Transcription and Chromatin UK is back for 2025 in Manchester! Make sure you register your interest to be kept in the loop about registration and abstract submission. www.biochemistry.org/events-and-t...
Transcription and Chromatin UK 2025
Transcription and Chromatin UK brings together the rich transcription and epigenetics community in the UK and leading experts from abroad, and will feature all aspects of transcription and chromatin r...
www.biochemistry.org
April 1, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Transcription and Chromatin UK is back for 2025 in Manchester! Make sure you register your interest to be kept in the loop about registration and abstract submission. www.biochemistry.org/events-and-t...
Cool perspective on cohesin as a "disruptor" by Adrian Bird: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Cohesin as an essential disruptor of chromosome organization
Chromosomes are long strings of DNA carrying multiple genes. A chromosomal factor
called cohesin creates loops of DNA proposed to be functional units of the genome.
By contrast, it is proposed here th...
www.cell.com
March 25, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Cool perspective on cohesin as a "disruptor" by Adrian Bird: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Our new findings on how chromosomes get ready for cell division are now published in @cellpress.bsky.social!
Congratulations, Kai, @andibrunner.bsky.social and everyone else involved! 🤩
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Congratulations, Kai, @andibrunner.bsky.social and everyone else involved! 🤩
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
March 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Our new findings on how chromosomes get ready for cell division are now published in @cellpress.bsky.social!
Congratulations, Kai, @andibrunner.bsky.social and everyone else involved! 🤩
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Congratulations, Kai, @andibrunner.bsky.social and everyone else involved! 🤩
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
📣 We are advertising for a postdoc to join our team at the University of Edinburgh! Our lab studies gene regulatory mechanisms in development, and how genetic changes may impact these processes to alter development and shape human craniofacial form and function 🧬🧪
Postdoctoral Researcher
Our research is focused on understanding how genetic changes in the non-coding genome can impact gene regulatory mechanisms, alter developmental processes and ultimately affect human craniofacial shap...
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:22 AM
📣 We are advertising for a postdoc to join our team at the University of Edinburgh! Our lab studies gene regulatory mechanisms in development, and how genetic changes may impact these processes to alter development and shape human craniofacial form and function 🧬🧪
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
Very interesting finding!
1/ H3K27me3 mimicry has repeatedly emerged through evolution, but what's the physiological relevance?
We show that JARID2 and PALI1 mimic H3K27me3 to antagonise PRC2 in vivo and restrict the spread of Polycomb domains.
🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that JARID2 and PALI1 mimic H3K27me3 to antagonise PRC2 in vivo and restrict the spread of Polycomb domains.
🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 15, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Very interesting finding!
Reposted by Aleksander Szczurek
The archetype of the scientist who sacrifices everything might’ve been romantic 50 years ago when there weren’t alternative high paying jobs. If we won’t make science FUN, reduce bureaucracy, and make it easier to secure funding and publish, few will stay in academia.
Friends! The science that we love is under threat. World-wide, there're forces seeking to make it corporate-like, focused on deliverables, or even the enemy of society. Take a stand & celebrate science & music! #theconferencetoendallconferences - Registration starts NOW!
woodstock.img.cas.cz
woodstock.img.cas.cz
March 9, 2025 at 5:28 PM
The archetype of the scientist who sacrifices everything might’ve been romantic 50 years ago when there weren’t alternative high paying jobs. If we won’t make science FUN, reduce bureaucracy, and make it easier to secure funding and publish, few will stay in academia.