Markus Elsner
@markuselsner.bsky.social
Deputy Director of the Institute for Intelligent Biotechnologies at HelmholtzMunich, former editor @naturebiotech.bsky.social, all views expressed here are my own
Reposted by Markus Elsner
I find this to be a very interesting paper but have a few questions and I wonder what T cell experts think: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Stochasticity in cancer immunotherapy stems from rare but functionally critical Spark T cells
Analysis of variations in the response of cancer immunotherapies in well-controlled
ex vivo replicate cultures identifies a rare CD8+ T cell subset, Spark T cells, that
drives stochastic responses. Sp...
www.cell.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:13 PM
I find this to be a very interesting paper but have a few questions and I wonder what T cell experts think: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Markus Elsner
The @steinaerts.bsky.social lab is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to develop next-generation sequence-to-function models for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain cancers.
More info & how to apply 👉 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/130090
More info & how to apply 👉 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/130090
February 13, 2026 at 9:02 AM
The @steinaerts.bsky.social lab is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to develop next-generation sequence-to-function models for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain cancers.
More info & how to apply 👉 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/130090
More info & how to apply 👉 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/130090
Reposted by Markus Elsner
🚨🚨Double preprint alert! 🚨🚨
Two papers went up on Biorxiv this week!
The first presents new chemigenetic FRET-based biosensors: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
And the second presents an improved version of our C-Y FRET PKA reporters, AKAR6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 🧵 1/5
Two papers went up on Biorxiv this week!
The first presents new chemigenetic FRET-based biosensors: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
And the second presents an improved version of our C-Y FRET PKA reporters, AKAR6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 🧵 1/5
www.biorxiv.org
February 13, 2026 at 7:49 PM
🚨🚨Double preprint alert! 🚨🚨
Two papers went up on Biorxiv this week!
The first presents new chemigenetic FRET-based biosensors: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
And the second presents an improved version of our C-Y FRET PKA reporters, AKAR6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 🧵 1/5
Two papers went up on Biorxiv this week!
The first presents new chemigenetic FRET-based biosensors: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
And the second presents an improved version of our C-Y FRET PKA reporters, AKAR6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 🧵 1/5
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Our February issue is now live! www.nature.com/nmeth/volume...
On the cover, self-supervised reconstruction structured illumination imaging of VACV-induced actin comet tails. Paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
On the cover, self-supervised reconstruction structured illumination imaging of VACV-induced actin comet tails. Paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 13, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Our February issue is now live! www.nature.com/nmeth/volume...
On the cover, self-supervised reconstruction structured illumination imaging of VACV-induced actin comet tails. Paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
On the cover, self-supervised reconstruction structured illumination imaging of VACV-induced actin comet tails. Paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Markus Elsner
In this recent Nature Methods Perspective, I outline how tissue clearing, spatial-omics, and AI converge to create deep 3D histology, enabling unbiased, organism-scale biology and next-generation digital pathology. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 13, 2026 at 10:35 AM
In this recent Nature Methods Perspective, I outline how tissue clearing, spatial-omics, and AI converge to create deep 3D histology, enabling unbiased, organism-scale biology and next-generation digital pathology. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Markus Elsner
How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?
Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n
Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n
A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...
www.science.org
February 13, 2026 at 11:42 AM
How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?
Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n
Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n
🤬
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
February 13, 2026 at 9:59 AM
🤬
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Excited to be joined tomorrow by Dr Johan Duchene @johanduchene.bsky.social from @lmu.de for our next @britsocimm.bsky.social MIG Seminar:
“The DARC Side of Neutrophils. How ACKR1 affects neutrophil biology in health and disease”
📆 Thursday 12th Feb
🕛 12:00 PM
📍 Michael Smith Lecture Theatre
“The DARC Side of Neutrophils. How ACKR1 affects neutrophil biology in health and disease”
📆 Thursday 12th Feb
🕛 12:00 PM
📍 Michael Smith Lecture Theatre
February 11, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Excited to be joined tomorrow by Dr Johan Duchene @johanduchene.bsky.social from @lmu.de for our next @britsocimm.bsky.social MIG Seminar:
“The DARC Side of Neutrophils. How ACKR1 affects neutrophil biology in health and disease”
📆 Thursday 12th Feb
🕛 12:00 PM
📍 Michael Smith Lecture Theatre
“The DARC Side of Neutrophils. How ACKR1 affects neutrophil biology in health and disease”
📆 Thursday 12th Feb
🕛 12:00 PM
📍 Michael Smith Lecture Theatre
Why do so many people suddenly have these stupid overview slides at the beginning of their talks? I find them totally useless, a complete waste of time.
February 12, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Why do so many people suddenly have these stupid overview slides at the beginning of their talks? I find them totally useless, a complete waste of time.
💯
February 12, 2026 at 8:08 AM
💯
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Now online! CLIM-TIME identifies metastatic microenvironment modulators for T cell therapy response
CLIM-TIME identifies metastatic microenvironment modulators for T cell therapy response
CLIM-TIME provides a high-throughput perturbation-mapping platform that links tumor suppressor gene loss to spatially defined metastatic niches and immune responses, identifying LOXL2 as a key modulator of suppressive metastatic environments. Inhibition of LOXL2 restores T cell infiltration into tumors and improves the efficacy of therapy.
dlvr.it
February 11, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Now online! CLIM-TIME identifies metastatic microenvironment modulators for T cell therapy response
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering - @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social @pennengineering.bsky.social go.nature.com/46tacJq
Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering - Nature Biotechnology
Hughes and colleagues present a developmentally inspired tissue engineering strategy to overcome barriers in kidney tissue generation, enhancing prospects for renal replacement therapies.
go.nature.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:31 AM
Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering - @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social @pennengineering.bsky.social go.nature.com/46tacJq
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Overjoyed to share our new work exploring the antigen specificity of CSF-expanded CD8+ T cells in #multiplesclerosis #EBV in @natimmunol.nature.com #immunology 🧪🧵1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Antigen specificity of clonally enriched CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis - Nature Immunology
Sabatino and colleagues examine expanded CD8+ T cell clonotypes from a small cohort of multiple sclerosis patients. They identified several cognate peptide epitopes that derive from Epstein–Barr virus...
www.nature.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Overjoyed to share our new work exploring the antigen specificity of CSF-expanded CD8+ T cells in #multiplesclerosis #EBV in @natimmunol.nature.com #immunology 🧪🧵1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Markus Elsner
![Comic. [Person with ponytail pointing to diagram on wall as she talks to two other people, one with short hair.] PERSON 1: The high carbon content of the skeleton indicates that the individual lived less than 12.6 billion years ago, after the first round of stellar nucleosynthesis. [caption] Cosmologist carbon dating](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiaaaa2fduedn5fusan4xvikaehxgps2yxdlv7vb3j7ep323zta2u4@jpeg)
February 10, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Why do patients with liver metastases respond so poorly to cancer immunotherapy?
Here we find a new immunological mechanism in MMR-d cancers centering on IL-18 and γδ T cells.👇 www.cell.com/cell-reports... @cp-cellrepmed.bsky.social
Here we find a new immunological mechanism in MMR-d cancers centering on IL-18 and γδ T cells.👇 www.cell.com/cell-reports... @cp-cellrepmed.bsky.social
Liver metastases dampen IL18-driven γδ T cell activity and immunotherapy responsiveness in colorectal cancer
van Renterghem et al. investigate the impact of liver metastases on immunity in MMR-d/MSI-hi
patients treated with ICB. They show that IL18 activates liver-derived Vδ1+ T cells
and predicts ICB benefi...
www.cell.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Why do patients with liver metastases respond so poorly to cancer immunotherapy?
Here we find a new immunological mechanism in MMR-d cancers centering on IL-18 and γδ T cells.👇 www.cell.com/cell-reports... @cp-cellrepmed.bsky.social
Here we find a new immunological mechanism in MMR-d cancers centering on IL-18 and γδ T cells.👇 www.cell.com/cell-reports... @cp-cellrepmed.bsky.social
Reposted by Markus Elsner
🌟New Perspective at Nature Cancer
Read about the recent advances in spatial omics and computational models that inform the classification and clinical relevance of cellular neighborhoods in cancer.
by Kai Tan and colleagues @kaitanlab.bsky.social
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Read about the recent advances in spatial omics and computational models that inform the classification and clinical relevance of cellular neighborhoods in cancer.
by Kai Tan and colleagues @kaitanlab.bsky.social
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Cellular neighborhoods in cancer - Nature Cancer
Tan and colleagues discuss recent advances in spatial omics and computational models that inform the classification and clinical relevance of cellular neighborhoods in cancer.
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:17 AM
🌟New Perspective at Nature Cancer
Read about the recent advances in spatial omics and computational models that inform the classification and clinical relevance of cellular neighborhoods in cancer.
by Kai Tan and colleagues @kaitanlab.bsky.social
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Read about the recent advances in spatial omics and computational models that inform the classification and clinical relevance of cellular neighborhoods in cancer.
by Kai Tan and colleagues @kaitanlab.bsky.social
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Precision treatment with artificial intelligence assisted subtyping enhances therapeutic efficacy in HR+/HER2− breast cancer: The LINUXtrial
Precision treatment with artificial intelligence assisted subtyping enhances therapeutic efficacy in HR+/HER2− breast cancer: The LINUXtrial
Fan et al. report findings from the LINUX trial showing this platform trial could identify valuable AI-assisted, subtyping-based precision treatments for HR+/HER2− advanced breast cancer patients after failure of CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment. Precision treatments demonstrated improved efficacy and manageable safety, meeting graduation criteria for SNF2 and SNF4 subtypes.
dlvr.it
February 10, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Precision treatment with artificial intelligence assisted subtyping enhances therapeutic efficacy in HR+/HER2− breast cancer: The LINUXtrial
Reposted by Markus Elsner
Nature research paper: Tumour–brain crosstalk restrains cancer immunity via a sensory–sympathetic axis
go.nature.com/3NUBUZj
go.nature.com/3NUBUZj
Tumour–brain crosstalk restrains cancer immunity via a sensory–sympathetic axis - Nature
Mouse models demonstrate that vagal sensory neurons transmit signals from lung adenocarcinoma to the brain, increasing sympathetic efferent activity in the tumour microenvironment and thereby creating a immunologically permissive environment for tumour growth.
go.nature.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Nature research paper: Tumour–brain crosstalk restrains cancer immunity via a sensory–sympathetic axis
go.nature.com/3NUBUZj
go.nature.com/3NUBUZj
Reposted by Markus Elsner
We’re hiring: Research Group Leader in computational biology.
Are you generating more research ideas than you can explore? Lead cutting-edge AI & biology research at EMBL-EBI.
Apply by 11 April 2026: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
#ScienceCareers @ewaldlab.org @embl.org
Are you generating more research ideas than you can explore? Lead cutting-edge AI & biology research at EMBL-EBI.
Apply by 11 April 2026: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
#ScienceCareers @ewaldlab.org @embl.org
February 10, 2026 at 11:31 AM
We’re hiring: Research Group Leader in computational biology.
Are you generating more research ideas than you can explore? Lead cutting-edge AI & biology research at EMBL-EBI.
Apply by 11 April 2026: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
#ScienceCareers @ewaldlab.org @embl.org
Are you generating more research ideas than you can explore? Lead cutting-edge AI & biology research at EMBL-EBI.
Apply by 11 April 2026: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
#ScienceCareers @ewaldlab.org @embl.org
Reposted by Markus Elsner
In a new paper, we introduce Metient, a new method to reconstruct the migration history of metastatic clones, and learn cancer-type specific patterns of metastatic spread, from bulk or single-cell sequencing data.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Inferring cancer type-specific patterns of metastatic spread using Metient - Nature Methods
Metient is a statistical framework that infers patterns of metastatic spread and reconstructs cancer migration histories.
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:46 PM
In a new paper, we introduce Metient, a new method to reconstruct the migration history of metastatic clones, and learn cancer-type specific patterns of metastatic spread, from bulk or single-cell sequencing data.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Markus Elsner
One week left to apply for the postdoc position at MRC-LMB in Cambridge. Join our team for an exciting project on transcription-coupled splicing to understand human gene regulation 🧬 Feel free to get in touch directly
#postdoc #cryoEM #biochemistry
#postdoc #cryoEM #biochemistry
February 5, 2026 at 12:06 PM
One week left to apply for the postdoc position at MRC-LMB in Cambridge. Join our team for an exciting project on transcription-coupled splicing to understand human gene regulation 🧬 Feel free to get in touch directly
#postdoc #cryoEM #biochemistry
#postdoc #cryoEM #biochemistry
What is the worst month of the year and why is it February?
February 9, 2026 at 6:40 PM
What is the worst month of the year and why is it February?
Uhh, this is cool
A new preprint introduces aDISCO, a DISCO-based clearing approach that makes whole archival FFPE human tissues transparent and antibody-compatible, enabling true 3D light-sheet histology across brain & multiple organs at cellular resolution. Aguzzi & Helmchen teams.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
February 8, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Uhh, this is cool
Reposted by Markus Elsner
A new preprint introduces aDISCO, a DISCO-based clearing approach that makes whole archival FFPE human tissues transparent and antibody-compatible, enabling true 3D light-sheet histology across brain & multiple organs at cellular resolution. Aguzzi & Helmchen teams.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
February 8, 2026 at 7:41 PM
A new preprint introduces aDISCO, a DISCO-based clearing approach that makes whole archival FFPE human tissues transparent and antibody-compatible, enabling true 3D light-sheet histology across brain & multiple organs at cellular resolution. Aguzzi & Helmchen teams.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...