Johan Jakobsson
jakobssonlab.bsky.social
Johan Jakobsson
@jakobssonlab.bsky.social
Transposons and heterochromatin
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
International Genome Dynamics course in Institut Curie-Paris (April 8-15), experimental and computational methods in multiomics,with a #TE centered session.
Free registration, until Jan 15th
Don’t miss it!
👉https://training.institut-curie.org/courses/Genome-Dynamics-2026
@institutcurie.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
New preprint from our lab: ‘Retroviral insertions contributed to the divergence of human and chimpanzee brains’. Very proud of this piece which took almost a decade to finish.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Retroviral insertions contributed to the divergence of human and chimpanzee brains
Over the past 5 to 7 million years, humans and chimpanzees have diverged in brain size, structural complexity, and cognitive abilities despite high conservation of protein-coding genes. Notably, the e...
www.biorxiv.org
December 14, 2025 at 8:16 PM
New preprint from our lab: ‘Retroviral insertions contributed to the divergence of human and chimpanzee brains’. Very proud of this piece which took almost a decade to finish.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Retroviral insertions contributed to the divergence of human and chimpanzee brains
Over the past 5 to 7 million years, humans and chimpanzees have diverged in brain size, structural complexity, and cognitive abilities despite high conservation of protein-coding genes. Notably, the e...
www.biorxiv.org
December 14, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
New #publication and #preprint from @jakobssonasap.bsky.social!

⬅️ L1 retrotransposons in stem cells & organoids link L1s to CNS development 🔗 bit.ly/3XyLvGz

➡️ Transposable elements activate in the #Parkinsons brain, tied to interferon responses & a new pathological process 🔗 bit.ly/3LKC5Fo
November 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Have a look at two of the latest outputs from CRN Team Jakobsson, examples of true team effort and collaboration 🧠 💫
We are grateful to @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org for making this research possible!

@jakobssonlab.bsky.social @kirkebylab.bsky.social @mollygale.bsky.social #RogerBarkerLab
New #publication and #preprint from @jakobssonasap.bsky.social!

⬅️ L1 retrotransposons in stem cells & organoids link L1s to CNS development 🔗 bit.ly/3XyLvGz

➡️ Transposable elements activate in the #Parkinsons brain, tied to interferon responses & a new pathological process 🔗 bit.ly/3LKC5Fo
December 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Always a joy to join #EMBOMobileGenome -A week full of cool nature’s quirks and science along the friendliest crowd 🧬 Happy to have shared our work on ERVs in human brain evolution (talk by @jakobssonlab.bsky.social) and Parkinson’s disease (poster by yours truly) 🧠
#ASAP @jakobssonasap.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Updated version of our preprint on how SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 controls the expression of L1 elements in human neural progenitor cells. The new analysis in this revised version supports a role for active DNA demethylation of L1s in the absence of H3K9me3.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Loss of SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 in human neural progenitor cells leads to transcriptional activation of L1 retrotransposons
Heterochromatin is characterised by an inaccessibility to the transcriptional machinery and is associated with the histone mark H3K9me3. However, studying the functional consequences of heterochromati...
www.biorxiv.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Updated version of our preprint on how SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 controls the expression of L1 elements in human neural progenitor cells. The new analysis in this revised version supports a role for active DNA demethylation of L1s in the absence of H3K9me3.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Loss of SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 in human neural progenitor cells leads to transcriptional activation of L1 retrotransposons
Heterochromatin is characterised by an inaccessibility to the transcriptional machinery and is associated with the histone mark H3K9me3. However, studying the functional consequences of heterochromati...
www.biorxiv.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Wonderful highlight of our work! 🧬
Hominoid-specific retrotransposons fuel regulatory novelty in early brain development , by @retrogenomics.bsky.social.

➡️ www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
October 13, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
It was fun to write this preview with Larisa Okorokova. Congrats to @jakobssonlab.bsky.social and all coauthors for this nice piece of work !
October 11, 2025 at 12:18 AM
🇸🇪
October 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Join @embl.org for this conference exploring genetic and physiological impacts of transposable elements. Virtual registration is open until October 28. Learn more at plos.io/4nuqeZA.
October 1, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Todays labmeeting became a tribute to Jane Goodall. Such an outstanding role model. 🙊
October 2, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
New preprint from my lab! We describe how transposable elements are activated in Parkinson’s disease, which is linked to an interferon response. We believe this study significantly advances our understanding of transposons and their role in human brains.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Activation of transposable elements is linked to a region- and cell-type-specific interferon response in Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common age-related neurodegenerative disorder involving a neuroinflammatory response, the cause of which remains unclear. Transposable elements (TE) have been linked to i...
www.biorxiv.org
September 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Activation of transposable elements is linked to a region- and cell-type-specific interferon response in Parkinson's disease https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.03.673956v1
September 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
New preprint from my lab! We describe how transposable elements are activated in Parkinson’s disease, which is linked to an interferon response. We believe this study significantly advances our understanding of transposons and their role in human brains.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Activation of transposable elements is linked to a region- and cell-type-specific interferon response in Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common age-related neurodegenerative disorder involving a neuroinflammatory response, the cause of which remains unclear. Transposable elements (TE) have been linked to i...
www.biorxiv.org
September 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
New collaborative paper from our lab! We developed cell-type specific transcriptional ageing clocks using snRNA-seq data from human brain.

doi.org/10.1002/advs...
Human Brain Cell‐Type‐Specific Aging Clocks Based on Single‐Nuclei Transcriptomics
Muralidharan and colleagues develop cell-type-specific transcriptomic aging clocks using single-nucleus RNA sequencing of human post mortem prefrontal cortex samples. These clocks accurately predict ....
doi.org
August 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Team Jakobsson gathered in southern Sweden for a few inspiring days discussing PD, transposable elements and future plans. We even squeezed in a hike and enjoyed some beautiful views ☀️🌊 @jakobssonlab.bsky.social @kirkebylab.bsky.social @mollygale.bsky.social @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org
August 27, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
first thing to share here!

excited to share lab’s first study in Parkinson’s disease revealing the prodromal vulnerability and function of the dopamine neuron subtype defined by Anxa1 expression - a specialized system controlling procedural motor learning

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Anxa1+ dopamine neuron vulnerability defines prodromal Parkinson's disease bradykinesia and procedural motor learning impairment
Progressive degeneration of dopamine neurons (DANs) defines Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the identity and function of the most vulnerable DAN populations in prodromal PD remain undefined. Here, ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2024 at 10:43 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
Very proud of this work where we define how the MORC2 ATPase directs CpG methylation of active human L1 transposons in early development.

Thanks to co-authors, funders & wonderful environment @lundstem.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Brief thread below (do people still do that?) 1/X
MORC2 directs transcription-dependent CpG methylation of human LINE-1 transposons in early neurodevelopment
Methylation of CpG dinucleotides is essential for silencing genomic repeats such as LINE-1 retrotransposons (L1s) in the germline and soma. Evolutionarily-young L1s are transcribed in human pluripoten...
www.biorxiv.org
July 1, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
#TransposonDay2025 New manuscript from our center to which we contributed. Great work led by @chdouse.bsky.social ! Provides a mechanistic explanation for how L1s are silenced during early human development.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org
June 16, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Johan Jakobsson
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬

Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
June 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM