Henri Niskanen
henriniskanen.bsky.social
Henri Niskanen
@henriniskanen.bsky.social
Postdoc @ Hnisz lab | Max Planck Institute for Molecule Genetics, Berlin | Condensates & Gene regulation | Past: PhD (Molecular Medicine, Uni. East Finland) MSc (biochemistry, Uni. Turku)
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
We wrote a review on Transposable Elements (TEs) and almost all aspects of TE silencing and their roles in biological processes & disease.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of transposable elements and their roles in development and disease - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
Transposable elements (TEs) comprise nearly half of the human genome. This Review discusses transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that repress TE activity, how TEs escape this suppressio...
www.nature.com
June 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
⚠️ I am really excited to share the work of Anastasios Balaskas, an excellent PhD candidate in the lab, with the wider world. Tasos made a significant advance: generating a stem cell-based embryo model that contains both posterior and anterior neural tissues of the late-stage gastrulating embryo.
June 23, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
This is a piece that I and @karsten-rippe.bsky.social discussing a lot, and a topic that is very close to my heart. The editors @naturerevgenet.bsky.social gave us the stage to do so, and the final version of our review is now available under this link: rdcu.be/erP1u

A short thread follows 1/n
June 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Check out a technology feature in @nature.com by Elie Dolgin regarding our recent 'Killswitch' publication
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Thank you for the comments and first impressions by Rick Young, Isaac Klein, @danfengcai.bsky.social @superscijew.bsky.social
@yaotianzhang.bsky.social
‘Killswitch’ protein lets scientists study immobilized cellular droplets
Synthetic peptide fixes biomolecular condensates, revealing how these enigmatic cell structures actually work.
www.nature.com
June 17, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
Nature research paper: Probing condensate microenvironments with a micropeptide killswitch

https://go.nature.com/4mMlGyc
Probing condensate microenvironments with a micropeptide killswitch - Nature
Targeting a non-natural micropeptide ‘killswitch’ to several biomolecular condensates altered condensate compositions and revealed condensate functions in human cells
go.nature.com
June 9, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
Work is a collaboration with @matthewkraushar.bsky.social, @aktast.bsky.social and the MPIMG Service Groups FACS, microscopy, sequencing and mass spec, as well as researchers from Austria, the US and Switzerland. Link to the publication:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
June 6, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
In @nature.com Yaotian Zhang and @henriniskanen.bsky.social from the Hnisz Lab discovered a micropeptide, the "Killswitch," which alters the physical state of biomolecules in condensates. This tool solidifies dynamic, liquid-like droplets, affecting their function.
--> www.molgen.mpg.de/4884827
June 6, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Henri Niskanen
A bottleneck for studying the biological function of biomolecular condensates is unavailability of tools to selectively probe them within living cells. @nature, researchers report one such tool, showcasing its use in various contexts including disease. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Probing condensate microenvironments with a micropeptide killswitch - Nature
Targeting a non-natural micropeptide ‘killswitch’ to several biomolecular condensates altered condensate compositions and revealed condensate functions in human cells
www.nature.com
June 5, 2025 at 9:03 AM
What controls condensate composition and function beyond binding stoichiometry? We show that condensate microenvironments play a key role, and can be probed by a micropeptide killswitch in live cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @nature.com ‬ with @yaotianzhang.bsky.social Denes Hnisz & team.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM