Belen Pachano
@belenpachano.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher studying Trypanosoma in the Siegel lab 🧬
From 🇦🇷 → 🇫🇷 → 🇩🇪
From 🇦🇷 → 🇫🇷 → 🇩🇪
Pinned
Hydra domain drives SNF2L multimerization and marks ISWI diversification in parasites
ISWI chromatin remodelers are conserved regulators of nucleosome positioning and chromatin accessibility across eukaryotes, yet their evolutionary diversification is poorly understood. In the apicompl...
www.biorxiv.org
I’m excited to share our new preprint!
We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. 🐉
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. 🐉
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Belen Pachano
Nature Com. now live! 🎉 Silvia’s amazing PhD supervised by Alex “the Greatest” & Christopher’s big-bang contribution. Huge thanks to our stellar team & collaborators. We went fishing in the FDA pond and hooked LY2090314 🎣 Blocks GSK3 🎯in #Toxoplasma & #Crypto
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structural and functional characterization of TgGSK3, a druggable kinase in Toxoplasma gondii - Nature Communications
Researchers identify the cancer drug LY2090314 as a potent inhibitor of Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium and report the first crystal structure of the parasite kinase TgGSK3 bound to it, validati...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Nature Com. now live! 🎉 Silvia’s amazing PhD supervised by Alex “the Greatest” & Christopher’s big-bang contribution. Huge thanks to our stellar team & collaborators. We went fishing in the FDA pond and hooked LY2090314 🎣 Blocks GSK3 🎯in #Toxoplasma & #Crypto
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Closing 4 wonderful years of PhD in the ParaFrap & EMBO Workshop in a beautiful french island. Thank you @hakimi.bsky.social and @parafrap.bsky.social for this wonderful learning journey 💕
October 13, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Closing 4 wonderful years of PhD in the ParaFrap & EMBO Workshop in a beautiful french island. Thank you @hakimi.bsky.social and @parafrap.bsky.social for this wonderful learning journey 💕
I’m excited to share our new preprint!
We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. 🐉
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. 🐉
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hydra domain drives SNF2L multimerization and marks ISWI diversification in parasites
ISWI chromatin remodelers are conserved regulators of nucleosome positioning and chromatin accessibility across eukaryotes, yet their evolutionary diversification is poorly understood. In the apicompl...
www.biorxiv.org
September 6, 2025 at 9:48 AM
I’m excited to share our new preprint!
We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. 🐉
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. 🐉
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Belen Pachano
Zeus had his Hydra ⚔️, now Toxoplasma has its own.
Meet Hydra: not a monster, but a brand-new protein domain.
It multimerizes like crazy & rewrites the chromatin landscape 🧬 in Toxoplasma.
Our team and colleagues from @embl.org #Grenoble just dropped the preprint 👉
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Meet Hydra: not a monster, but a brand-new protein domain.
It multimerizes like crazy & rewrites the chromatin landscape 🧬 in Toxoplasma.
Our team and colleagues from @embl.org #Grenoble just dropped the preprint 👉
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Zeus had his Hydra ⚔️, now Toxoplasma has its own.
Meet Hydra: not a monster, but a brand-new protein domain.
It multimerizes like crazy & rewrites the chromatin landscape 🧬 in Toxoplasma.
Our team and colleagues from @embl.org #Grenoble just dropped the preprint 👉
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Meet Hydra: not a monster, but a brand-new protein domain.
It multimerizes like crazy & rewrites the chromatin landscape 🧬 in Toxoplasma.
Our team and colleagues from @embl.org #Grenoble just dropped the preprint 👉
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thrilled to share our latest review! 🎉 It captures the ideas and discussions that have shaped our work in recent years. Big shoutout to the amazing authors 👏 @hakimi.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Decoding the epigenetic blueprint behind Toxoplasma (pre)sexual commitment and chronic persistence
Toxoplasma gondii, a widespread apicomplexan parasite, navigates a complex life cycle in which it switches back and forth between tachyzoites and brad…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 30, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Thrilled to share our latest review! 🎉 It captures the ideas and discussions that have shaped our work in recent years. Big shoutout to the amazing authors 👏 @hakimi.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thank you for providing me an amazing environment to learn and work. I could not have asked for a better mentor!
Huge congrats @belenpachano.bsky.social on your PhD! Honored to have shared the journey. Your brilliance shines through your articles — past and future. You’ll be missed, but my lab will always be your home. Come back anytime. You’ve earned every success!
July 25, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Thank you for providing me an amazing environment to learn and work. I could not have asked for a better mentor!
Glad to have contributed to this amazing work out now in
@embomolmed.org ! 🎉 Big shoutout to Marie G. Robert & Christopher Swale and @hakimi.bsky.social !
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@embomolmed.org ! 🎉 Big shoutout to Marie G. Robert & Christopher Swale and @hakimi.bsky.social !
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Uncovering biomarkers for chronic toxoplasmosis detection highlights alternative pathways shaping parasite dormancy | EMBO Molecular Medicine
imageimageDespite their clinical relevance, bradyzoite-filled cysts - the hallmark of chronic
toxoplasmosis - are largely overlooked in current diagnostics. This study highlights
bradyzoite serologica...
www.embopress.org
May 19, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Glad to have contributed to this amazing work out now in
@embomolmed.org ! 🎉 Big shoutout to Marie G. Robert & Christopher Swale and @hakimi.bsky.social !
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@embomolmed.org ! 🎉 Big shoutout to Marie G. Robert & Christopher Swale and @hakimi.bsky.social !
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Belen Pachano
🧵 Ever wondered what Toxoplasma is doing in your brain years after that undercooked steak 🥩 or a sip of contaminated water? Turns out, it's been hiding in your brain 🧠and we finally have a way to spot it. New study just dropped in EMBO Molecular Medicine 👇
doi.org/10.1038/s443...
doi.org/10.1038/s443...
Uncovering biomarkers for chronic toxoplasmosis detection highlights alternative pathways shaping parasite dormancy | EMBO Molecular Medicine
imageimageDespite their clinical relevance, bradyzoite-filled cysts - the hallmark of chronic
toxoplasmosis - are largely overlooked in current diagnostics. This study highlights
bradyzoite serologica...
doi.org
May 19, 2025 at 10:31 AM
🧵 Ever wondered what Toxoplasma is doing in your brain years after that undercooked steak 🥩 or a sip of contaminated water? Turns out, it's been hiding in your brain 🧠and we finally have a way to spot it. New study just dropped in EMBO Molecular Medicine 👇
doi.org/10.1038/s443...
doi.org/10.1038/s443...
Reposted by Belen Pachano
An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in #Toxoplasma gondii. By Belen Pachano (ParaFrap PhD student) et al., team @hakimi.bsky.social. In @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in Toxoplasma gondii - Nature Microbiology
Toxoplasma gondii evolved two ISWI remodellers, TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. TgSNF2h forms a complex that insulates active genes, regulates MORC-driven sexual commitment and ensures precise gene expression, s...
www.nature.com
April 22, 2025 at 2:39 PM
An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in #Toxoplasma gondii. By Belen Pachano (ParaFrap PhD student) et al., team @hakimi.bsky.social. In @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching
"To make sense of this genomic jungle, the parasite relies on an extra layer of regulation to ensure precise gene activation at the right time and in the right place"
go.nature.com/3RJNMfb
"To make sense of this genomic jungle, the parasite relies on an extra layer of regulation to ensure precise gene activation at the right time and in the right place"
go.nature.com/3RJNMfb
Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching
go.nature.com
April 13, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching
"To make sense of this genomic jungle, the parasite relies on an extra layer of regulation to ensure precise gene activation at the right time and in the right place"
go.nature.com/3RJNMfb
"To make sense of this genomic jungle, the parasite relies on an extra layer of regulation to ensure precise gene activation at the right time and in the right place"
go.nature.com/3RJNMfb
Thrilled to share my first paper, now out in
@natmicrobiol.nature.com! Huge thanks to my amazing supervisor @hakimi.bsky.social and everyone who contributed to this work!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natmicrobiol.nature.com! Huge thanks to my amazing supervisor @hakimi.bsky.social and everyone who contributed to this work!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in Toxoplasma gondii - Nature Microbiology
Toxoplasma gondii evolved two ISWI remodellers, TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. TgSNF2h forms a complex that insulates active genes, regulates MORC-driven sexual commitment and ensures precise gene expression, s...
www.nature.com
April 13, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Thrilled to share my first paper, now out in
@natmicrobiol.nature.com! Huge thanks to my amazing supervisor @hakimi.bsky.social and everyone who contributed to this work!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natmicrobiol.nature.com! Huge thanks to my amazing supervisor @hakimi.bsky.social and everyone who contributed to this work!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Belen Pachano
In the silence of chromatin, Toxoplasma whispers change.
TgSNF2h sculpts the genome - MORC in the backseat.
Some genes wake. Others sleep.
A dance of nucleosomes shaping space for life parasite stages to unfold.
Now in Nature Microbiology:
rdcu.be/ehkWp
TgSNF2h sculpts the genome - MORC in the backseat.
Some genes wake. Others sleep.
A dance of nucleosomes shaping space for life parasite stages to unfold.
Now in Nature Microbiology:
rdcu.be/ehkWp
An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in Toxoplasma gondii
Nature Microbiology - Toxoplasma gondii evolved two ISWI remodellers, TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. TgSNF2h forms a complex that insulates active genes, regulates MORC-driven sexual commitment and ensures...
rdcu.be
April 11, 2025 at 11:07 AM
In the silence of chromatin, Toxoplasma whispers change.
TgSNF2h sculpts the genome - MORC in the backseat.
Some genes wake. Others sleep.
A dance of nucleosomes shaping space for life parasite stages to unfold.
Now in Nature Microbiology:
rdcu.be/ehkWp
TgSNF2h sculpts the genome - MORC in the backseat.
Some genes wake. Others sleep.
A dance of nucleosomes shaping space for life parasite stages to unfold.
Now in Nature Microbiology:
rdcu.be/ehkWp
Reposted by Belen Pachano
A humorous reflection on the first article from my stellar PhD student, Belen Pachano.
communities.springernature.com/posts/open-s...
communities.springernature.com/posts/open-s...
Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching
communities.springernature.com
April 11, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A humorous reflection on the first article from my stellar PhD student, Belen Pachano.
communities.springernature.com/posts/open-s...
communities.springernature.com/posts/open-s...