Rui Zhang
@ruizhangmt.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Washington University in St. Louis #WashU.
#CryoEM studies of native #microtubules and #cilia related complexes
lab website: http://zhangrui.wustl.edu
#CryoEM studies of native #microtubules and #cilia related complexes
lab website: http://zhangrui.wustl.edu
Pinned
Rui Zhang
@ruizhangmt.bsky.social
· Mar 13
I am super excited to share our latest work on the structures of doublet microtubules from trypanosomatid parasites, the causative agents of leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and African sleeping sickness. tinyurl.com/48sh3xn5
Evolutionary adaptations of doublet microtubules in trypanosomatid parasites
The movement and pathogenicity of trypanosomatid species, the causative agents of trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis, are dependent on a flagellum that contains an axoneme of dynein-bound doublet micro...
tinyurl.com
Another wonderful collaboration with @alanbrownhms.bsky.social lab 👇
Zhang lab (co-first author @qingweiniu.bsky.social) contribute the doublet structure from Crithidia fasciculata, a model organism that infects mosquitoes.
Zhang lab (co-first author @qingweiniu.bsky.social) contribute the doublet structure from Crithidia fasciculata, a model organism that infects mosquitoes.
Reposted by Rui Zhang
At long last, the Chlamy chloroplast ribosome hat 🎩 (now renamed the arm 💪) is here to say hello👋! We first spotted this extended structure in green algae a decade ago, and @florentwaltz.bsky.social did beautiful work bringing it into focus! #CryoEM ❄️ #TeamTomo 🔬 #PlantScience 🌾 #ProtistsOnSky 🧪
Long in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome!
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵
February 10, 2026 at 1:53 PM
At long last, the Chlamy chloroplast ribosome hat 🎩 (now renamed the arm 💪) is here to say hello👋! We first spotted this extended structure in green algae a decade ago, and @florentwaltz.bsky.social did beautiful work bringing it into focus! #CryoEM ❄️ #TeamTomo 🔬 #PlantScience 🌾 #ProtistsOnSky 🧪
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Very happy to say that our work on how axonemes are generated is now available on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... - if you’ve ever wondered how the incredibly beautiful, complex structures within motile #cilia are constructed then this is for you!
www.biorxiv.org
February 6, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Very happy to say that our work on how axonemes are generated is now available on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... - if you’ve ever wondered how the incredibly beautiful, complex structures within motile #cilia are constructed then this is for you!
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Proud and excited to share our work with the community! Helen @helenfoster.bsky.social Foster et al. study how #cilia axonemes are built. 👀 Don't miss the gorgeous and insightful movies by @margotriggi.bsky.social, they really show our discoveries in full action!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
February 9, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Proud and excited to share our work with the community! Helen @helenfoster.bsky.social Foster et al. study how #cilia axonemes are built. 👀 Don't miss the gorgeous and insightful movies by @margotriggi.bsky.social, they really show our discoveries in full action!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Holy cow the Zhou lab at UCLA is cooking with Isonet 2 - www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Averaging-free direct visualization of ribosome translational state! #teamtomo #cryoet
Averaging-free direct visualization of ribosome translational state! #teamtomo #cryoet
December 12, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Holy cow the Zhou lab at UCLA is cooking with Isonet 2 - www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Averaging-free direct visualization of ribosome translational state! #teamtomo #cryoet
Averaging-free direct visualization of ribosome translational state! #teamtomo #cryoet
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Excited to share our new preprint in collaboration with Ahmet Yildiz's lab. Check out how our team uncovers a novel binding footprint and motor regulation mechanism for MAP9 Congrats to Burak Cetin and @aryantaheri.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Excited to share our new preprint in collaboration with Ahmet Yildiz's lab. Check out how our team uncovers a novel binding footprint and motor regulation mechanism for MAP9 Congrats to Burak Cetin and @aryantaheri.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃
October 31, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃
Reposted by Rui Zhang
We are looking for a computational postdoc to work with us on new optimisation algorithms to make #RELION even better. Join our bubbly team at the @mrclmb.bsky.social in Cambridge, UK. 🤗 RTs appreciated.
mrc.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
mrc.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
Quick Check Needed
mrc.tal.net
October 29, 2025 at 9:17 AM
We are looking for a computational postdoc to work with us on new optimisation algorithms to make #RELION even better. Join our bubbly team at the @mrclmb.bsky.social in Cambridge, UK. 🤗 RTs appreciated.
mrc.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
mrc.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
Reposted by Rui Zhang
New lab preprint!
@zestytoast.bsky.social tagged a scarce mycobacterial protein in M. smegmatis with TwinStep but got… something? @kjamali.bsky.social's ModelAngelo built models & @martinsteinegger.bsky.social's FoldSeek IDed them as the biotin-containing MCC & LCC complexes
🧵
tinyurl.com/ukny4ptz
@zestytoast.bsky.social tagged a scarce mycobacterial protein in M. smegmatis with TwinStep but got… something? @kjamali.bsky.social's ModelAngelo built models & @martinsteinegger.bsky.social's FoldSeek IDed them as the biotin-containing MCC & LCC complexes
🧵
tinyurl.com/ukny4ptz
October 30, 2025 at 3:21 AM
New lab preprint!
@zestytoast.bsky.social tagged a scarce mycobacterial protein in M. smegmatis with TwinStep but got… something? @kjamali.bsky.social's ModelAngelo built models & @martinsteinegger.bsky.social's FoldSeek IDed them as the biotin-containing MCC & LCC complexes
🧵
tinyurl.com/ukny4ptz
@zestytoast.bsky.social tagged a scarce mycobacterial protein in M. smegmatis with TwinStep but got… something? @kjamali.bsky.social's ModelAngelo built models & @martinsteinegger.bsky.social's FoldSeek IDed them as the biotin-containing MCC & LCC complexes
🧵
tinyurl.com/ukny4ptz
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Excited to share our preprint on cytoskeletal organization in astrocytes!
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Postdoc @mewynne759 looked at microtubules, IFs/GFAP & actin along long elaborate processes.
Wonderful to collaborate w postdoc @dharshinigopal & @NogalesLab on cryo-ET 🤓
1/x
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Postdoc @mewynne759 looked at microtubules, IFs/GFAP & actin along long elaborate processes.
Wonderful to collaborate w postdoc @dharshinigopal & @NogalesLab on cryo-ET 🤓
1/x
https://biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
October 13, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Excited to share our preprint on cytoskeletal organization in astrocytes!
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Postdoc @mewynne759 looked at microtubules, IFs/GFAP & actin along long elaborate processes.
Wonderful to collaborate w postdoc @dharshinigopal & @NogalesLab on cryo-ET 🤓
1/x
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Postdoc @mewynne759 looked at microtubules, IFs/GFAP & actin along long elaborate processes.
Wonderful to collaborate w postdoc @dharshinigopal & @NogalesLab on cryo-ET 🤓
1/x
Reposted by Rui Zhang
HHMI adopts Plan U journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
September 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
HHMI adopts Plan U journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Yifan Cheng to Receive 2026 Anatrace Membrane Protein Award buff.ly/ooI1UDy
September 24, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Yifan Cheng to Receive 2026 Anatrace Membrane Protein Award buff.ly/ooI1UDy
Reposted by Rui Zhang
This one is a bit of a departure from the usual and definitely a work in progress!
We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below.
Read on for details... 1/x
We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below.
Read on for details... 1/x
September 13, 2025 at 12:05 AM
This one is a bit of a departure from the usual and definitely a work in progress!
We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below.
Read on for details... 1/x
We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below.
Read on for details... 1/x
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Happy to share a new preprint from the Clarke & Vallese (@fravallese.bsky.social) labs reporting #cryoem structures of two RBC stomatin complexes – with AQP1 & UT-B - continuing the SPFH theme from our recent vault preprint! This was a fun one and has been cooking for a while - read on for more! ⬇️
August 30, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Happy to share a new preprint from the Clarke & Vallese (@fravallese.bsky.social) labs reporting #cryoem structures of two RBC stomatin complexes – with AQP1 & UT-B - continuing the SPFH theme from our recent vault preprint! This was a fun one and has been cooking for a while - read on for more! ⬇️
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Now published! Big congrats to first author @gginell.bsky.social
We are actively working improving/updating various aspects of FINCHES; don't hesitate to reach out if you run into issues, have questions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We are actively working improving/updating various aspects of FINCHES; don't hesitate to reach out if you run into issues, have questions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
May 23, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Now published! Big congrats to first author @gginell.bsky.social
We are actively working improving/updating various aspects of FINCHES; don't hesitate to reach out if you run into issues, have questions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We are actively working improving/updating various aspects of FINCHES; don't hesitate to reach out if you run into issues, have questions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Rui Zhang
The fantastically successful NIGMS MIRA R35 "expired" on May 17, after the most recent deadline--these removals are the most aggressive attack on American science in the current series of devastating actions 🧪
NIH moved up the expiration date for some funding opportunities, effectively *canceling* the next application date without removing it from the standard table. I can't even imagine how many people are still prepping these grants.
👀 List of impacted opportunities:
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
👀 List of impacted opportunities:
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
May 20, 2025 at 11:18 PM
The fantastically successful NIGMS MIRA R35 "expired" on May 17, after the most recent deadline--these removals are the most aggressive attack on American science in the current series of devastating actions 🧪
Reposted by Rui Zhang
"to run a contest that you end up not funding as a private organization at this time is… both extremely wasteful of these people’s time, and just devastating in terms of morale."
I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at STAT today about HHMI's decision not to fund this round of Hanna Gray applicants.
I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at STAT today about HHMI's decision not to fund this round of Hanna Gray applicants.
Private funder HHMI pauses postdoc fellowship
As HHMI pauses Hanna Gray fellowship applications, opportunities for young scientists shrink further, making them look overseas.
www.statnews.com
May 19, 2025 at 10:36 PM
"to run a contest that you end up not funding as a private organization at this time is… both extremely wasteful of these people’s time, and just devastating in terms of morale."
I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at STAT today about HHMI's decision not to fund this round of Hanna Gray applicants.
I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at STAT today about HHMI's decision not to fund this round of Hanna Gray applicants.
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Alex Long, the last postdoc from my lab at Stanford, is starting her own lab, continuing her beautiful work on evolutionary cell biology using chytrid fungi as a model. Check it out! alonglab.org
Long Research Group
Long Research Group - Univ. Kentucky
alonglab.org
March 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Alex Long, the last postdoc from my lab at Stanford, is starting her own lab, continuing her beautiful work on evolutionary cell biology using chytrid fungi as a model. Check it out! alonglab.org
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Conference alert: Machines acting on DNA and RNA
Madrid, May 28-30
Abstract deadline: April 24
Organised by @cniostopcancer.bsky.social. Come to share your research with experts in the molecular mechanisms of DNA & RNA machines. See the list of speakers below.
Please repost.
Madrid, May 28-30
Abstract deadline: April 24
Organised by @cniostopcancer.bsky.social. Come to share your research with experts in the molecular mechanisms of DNA & RNA machines. See the list of speakers below.
Please repost.
March 15, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Conference alert: Machines acting on DNA and RNA
Madrid, May 28-30
Abstract deadline: April 24
Organised by @cniostopcancer.bsky.social. Come to share your research with experts in the molecular mechanisms of DNA & RNA machines. See the list of speakers below.
Please repost.
Madrid, May 28-30
Abstract deadline: April 24
Organised by @cniostopcancer.bsky.social. Come to share your research with experts in the molecular mechanisms of DNA & RNA machines. See the list of speakers below.
Please repost.
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Introducing blebbisomes! Cover art by @ento-sanchez.bsky.social! #CellBiology
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
March 15, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Introducing blebbisomes! Cover art by @ento-sanchez.bsky.social! #CellBiology
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rui Zhang
More than 2 decades ago the PINK1 protein was found to be linked to Parkinson's disease, but its structure and how it was activated was not known. Until @science.org today. A triumph for cryo-EM and structural biology, introducing new targets for drug intervention.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
March 13, 2025 at 11:19 PM
More than 2 decades ago the PINK1 protein was found to be linked to Parkinson's disease, but its structure and how it was activated was not known. Until @science.org today. A triumph for cryo-EM and structural biology, introducing new targets for drug intervention.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Another wonderful collaboration with @alanbrownhms.bsky.social lab 👇
Zhang lab (co-first author @qingweiniu.bsky.social) contribute the doublet structure from Crithidia fasciculata, a model organism that infects mosquitoes.
Zhang lab (co-first author @qingweiniu.bsky.social) contribute the doublet structure from Crithidia fasciculata, a model organism that infects mosquitoes.
I am super excited to share our latest work on the structures of doublet microtubules from trypanosomatid parasites, the causative agents of leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and African sleeping sickness. tinyurl.com/48sh3xn5
Evolutionary adaptations of doublet microtubules in trypanosomatid parasites
The movement and pathogenicity of trypanosomatid species, the causative agents of trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis, are dependent on a flagellum that contains an axoneme of dynein-bound doublet micro...
tinyurl.com
March 13, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Another wonderful collaboration with @alanbrownhms.bsky.social lab 👇
Zhang lab (co-first author @qingweiniu.bsky.social) contribute the doublet structure from Crithidia fasciculata, a model organism that infects mosquitoes.
Zhang lab (co-first author @qingweiniu.bsky.social) contribute the doublet structure from Crithidia fasciculata, a model organism that infects mosquitoes.
😳😱 R.I.P. Karen
Sad news about Karen Davies' passing.
Karen was an inspiration in bioenergetics and cryoET. Her pioneering postdoctoral work on ATP synthase and respiratory supercomplexes marked turning points in the field. I created Scholar profile to acknowledge her contribution
scholar.google.com/citations?hl...
Karen was an inspiration in bioenergetics and cryoET. Her pioneering postdoctoral work on ATP synthase and respiratory supercomplexes marked turning points in the field. I created Scholar profile to acknowledge her contribution
scholar.google.com/citations?hl...
Karen Davies
Formerly of Electron Bio-Imaging Centre, Diamond Light Source, United Kingdom - Cited by 2,887 - cryo-EM - tomography - method development - bioenergetics
scholar.google.com
March 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
😳😱 R.I.P. Karen
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Happy to share the beautiful structure of a Wadjet SMC complex by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social, with support from the DCI and @drhonsworth.bsky.social ! This is a type II Wadjet with unique characteristics including a tandem KITE subunit, distinct coiled coil architecture and a deviant hinge.
March 11, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Happy to share the beautiful structure of a Wadjet SMC complex by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social, with support from the DCI and @drhonsworth.bsky.social ! This is a type II Wadjet with unique characteristics including a tandem KITE subunit, distinct coiled coil architecture and a deviant hinge.
Reposted by Rui Zhang
Thrilled- the @bsdb.bsky.social medal in Wolpert's name marks 'vastly important contributions to research in our field, but also to the communication of its problems to a broader audience'. Communicating the importance of our research has never been more important when science is under such threat!
We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2025 Wolpert medal is Pleasantine Mill!
bsdb.org/2025/03/05/2...
bsdb.org/2025/03/05/2...
March 7, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Thrilled- the @bsdb.bsky.social medal in Wolpert's name marks 'vastly important contributions to research in our field, but also to the communication of its problems to a broader audience'. Communicating the importance of our research has never been more important when science is under such threat!
Reposted by Rui Zhang
The @jcellsci.bsky.social has an upcoming special issue - Cilia and Flagella: from Basic Biology to Disease – guest edited by Pleasantine Mill (University of Edinburgh) and Lotte Pedersen (University of Copenhagen) . The submission deadline is 31 March.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/ci...
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/ci...
March 7, 2025 at 11:59 AM
The @jcellsci.bsky.social has an upcoming special issue - Cilia and Flagella: from Basic Biology to Disease – guest edited by Pleasantine Mill (University of Edinburgh) and Lotte Pedersen (University of Copenhagen) . The submission deadline is 31 March.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/ci...
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/ci...