Augustinas Silale
augustsilale.bsky.social
Augustinas Silale
@augustsilale.bsky.social
Structural biology, membrane proteins, microbiology. Postdoc. Newcastle upon Tyne. 🧪🧫❄️🔬🇱🇹🏳️‍🌈
Pinned
Our paper on the Bacteroidota BAM complex is out in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! With @madejmar.bsky.social

We found that BAM in Bacteroides and Porphyromonas gingivalis has a distinct architecture from BAM in Proteobacteria.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Structure of a distinct β-barrel assembly machinery complex in the Bacteroidota - Nature Microbiology
Structural and functional characterization of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex in Bacteroidota reveals a distinct, seven-component complex with a large extracellular domain that may enable β-barrel–surface lipoprotein complex assembly.
doi.org
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Good news! Erasmus is a great scheme. www.bbc.com/news/article...
UK will rejoin Erasmus student scheme in 2027
The UK left in December 2020 as part of the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU negotiated by Boris Johnson.
www.bbc.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Fab afternoon at the MHD festive gathering 🎉 congratulations to the winning quiz team and @johncorrigall.bsky.social for most festive outfit.
December 15, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Structure and organization of AMPA receptor-TARP complexes in the mammalian cerebellum | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Structure and organization of AMPA receptor-TARP complexes in the mammalian cerebellum
AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are multimodal transducers of glutamatergic signals throughout the brain. Their diversity is exemplified in the cerebellum; at afferent synapses, AMPARs mediate high-frequency ...
www.science.org
December 12, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Our paper on polymyxin interacting with the E. coli outer membrane is out! Simulations by the very talented @dheerajprakaash.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s42...

To scale outer membrane protein island simulated at coarse-grained resolution with portions refined at all atom resolution.
Polymyxins slow down lateral diffusion of proteins and lipopolysaccharide in the E. coli outer membrane - Communications Biology
Multi-scale molecular dynamics simulations reveal that polymyxins form polymyxin-protein aggregates upon associating with the E. coli outer membrane thereby reducing lateral mobility of outer membrane...
www.nature.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Fantastic to have Prof Matthias Wilmanns from EMBL Hamburg hosted by @kshbeckham.bsky.social to give a @mhd-newcastle.bsky.social seminar on mycobacterial infection #dreamtheme
December 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Type VII ABC transporters underpin many core activities in the bacterial cell envelope - including efflux, cell division and lipoprotein trafficking.

A new paper in PLOS Biology reveals YbbAP-TesA as a novel Type VII system in E. coli.

dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
Structural characterization of the YbbAP-TesA ABC transporter identifies it as a lipid hydrolase complex that extracts hydrophobic compounds from the bacterial inner membrane
In E.coli, three of the four Type VII ABC transporter systems have been structurally characterized. This study solves cryo-EM structures of the fourth Type VII ABC system, YbbAP-TesA, and suggests tha...
dx.plos.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Excited to share our latest research in @natmicrobiol.nature.com . We uncover hundreds of inhibitory interactions between common chemical pollutants and human gut bacteria. A thread🧵 (1/10) #microbiomesky #microsky @kiranrpatil.bsky.social lab @mrc-tu.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Industrial and agricultural chemicals exhibit antimicrobial activity against human gut bacteria in vitro - Nature Microbiology
Screening of 1,076 compounds reveals 168 chemical pollutants with inhibitory effects on gut bacteria and genetic screens indicate commonality between pollutant and antibiotic resistance.
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Pleased to share our recent article in PNAS - a collaboration with @jessicaandreani.bsky.social & Pablo Radicella, with important roles played by many members of each team.

A tripartite protein complex promotes DNA transport during natural transformation in Firmicutes www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A tripartite protein complex promotes DNA transport during natural transformation in Firmicutes | PNAS
Natural genetic transformation is a conserved mechanism of bacterial horizontal gene transfer, which is directed entirely by the recipient cell and...
www.pnas.org
November 26, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Happy to see work I contributed to during my MSc at @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social with Jennifer Tomlinson’s lab out in @pnas.org! Everyone Bluesky-less except @antoncalabrese.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

#AMR #MRSA #NMR
Inhibition of fusidic acid resistance through restricting conformational flexibility in domain III of EF-G | PNAS
Fusidic acid (FA) is one of few remaining antibiotics active against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. FusB confers resistance to FA by ...
www.pnas.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
rdcu.be/eRxNf here our new study on the characterization of the lipopolysaccharide holotranslocon, LptDE and the newly identified subunits LptM and LptY. Great collaboration with @fronzeslab.bsky.social @pstansfeld.bsky.social @JulienMarcoux @YvesQuentin
Structural basis of lipopolysaccharide assembly by the outer membrane translocon holo-complex
Nature Communications - The asymmetric distribution of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the surface of the bacterial outer membrane is essential and crucial for antibiotic resistance. Here, authors...
rdcu.be
November 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Proteins are dynamic structures, but structural biology often shows them as static snapshots. Inspired by long-exposure photography and generative art, I built ProteinCHAOS, an artistic tool inspired by molecular dynamics to capture protein flexibility over time, much like long-exposure images.
November 23, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
A shared mechanism for Bacteroidota protein transport and gliding motility pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41266322/ #cryoem
November 21, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Pleased to see this collaboration with a great PhD student Pei Cing Ng, from Prof. Luning Liu's lab at Liverpool University published. Structure of the H. neapolitanus carbonic anhydrase and localisation in a mini-carboxysome: www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
November 13, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
I am excited to share our new preprint on our structural and biochemical analyses of human methionine synthase (MTR). This was the hard work of Douglas Ferreira who carried out this research as a significant part of his PhD. #CryoEM www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Structural insights into cobalamin loading and reactivation of human methionine synthase
Human methionine synthase (MTR) is an essential enzyme of one carbon metabolism. Consisting of a catalytic N-half and a cobalamin binding C-half, MTR utilises this intricate organometallic cofactor in...
www.biorxiv.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
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...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Next up Dr Francesca Mazzotta from Max Plank with some beautiful structures of peptide nanofibrils
November 7, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Lovely to have 5 “generations” of #Salgadolab PhD students together at #ccp4north! In chronological order: @adamcrawshaw.bsky.social, Paola Lanzoni-Mangutchi, @vic0210.bsky.social, Ellie Rockliff and @pav2601.bsky.social. #proudPI
November 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Dive into our November issue featuring:

🪆nested archaeal symbioses
🌱microbiota driven drought responses in plants
🏗️ BAM complex in Bacteroidota
💨microbial fermentative growth in the gut
🍸hospital-specific phage therapy cocktail

and much more..!

www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/v...
November 3, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
If you are interested in researching how drug resistant bacteria evade killing by our immune system, them this PhD project is for you. Come join the our team at Newcastle, in collaboration with University of Liverpool, and lead research at the interface of microbiology, immunology and metabolomics.
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Hiding in plain sight: How multi-drug resistant pathogens evade detection and killing by human neutrophils at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Hiding in plain sight: How multi-drug resistant pathogens evade detection and killing by human neutrophils at Newcastle University, listed on Fin...
www.findaphd.com
November 2, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Want to work within a multidisciplinary group to combat antifungal resistance in Candida spp? Fully-funded MRC PhD studentship in collaboration with @nclfungalgroup.bsky.social and Francesco Del Carratore on the mode of action of a new class of antifungal drugs. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Targeting thioredoxin reductase to combat antifungal resistance in Candida spp. at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Targeting thioredoxin reductase to combat antifungal resistance in Candida spp. at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Interested in a PhD at the intersection of biophysics and microbiology?

Apply for this MRC-funded opportunity at Newcastle University to do cutting-edge microscopy in Mycobacterium tuberculosis! 🔬🦠

Closing 4 Dec!

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Molecular mechanism of slow growth and antibiotic tolerance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using single-molecule microscopy at Newcastle University on FindAPhD....
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Molecular mechanism of slow growth and antibiotic tolerance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using single-molecule microscopy at Newcastle Universit...
www.findaphd.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Prospective PhD Students!

The MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Projects are now online.. lots of exciting opportunities to join us here in Newcastle.

Take a look 👀

www.findaphd.com/phds/mrc-dim...
Newcastle University, MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships - 21 PhDs Listed
FindAPhD. Search Funded PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships at Newcastle University, MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership.
www.findaphd.com
November 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Augustinas Silale
Scary orientation bias has arrived for Halloween. 👻🔬 #CryoEM
October 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM