Susan Shao
@sshaolab.bsky.social
Dissecting molecular mechanisms that regulate protein and cellular homeostasis. https://shao.hms.harvard.edu
Reposted by Susan Shao
Our study on the molecular function of translational activators for mitochondrial protein synthesis is published:
rdcu.be/eSWxT
A great collaboration with @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social and @sshaolab.bsky.social with structural work from our @pelleeas.bsky.social
Funded by @kawresearch.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eSWxT
A great collaboration with @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social and @sshaolab.bsky.social with structural work from our @pelleeas.bsky.social
Funded by @kawresearch.bsky.social
Translational activators align mRNAs at the small mitoribosomal subunit for translation initiation
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Mitochondrial translational activators (TAs) facilitate transcript-specific translation. Using selective ribosome profiling and cryo-electron microscopy,...
rdcu.be
December 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Our study on the molecular function of translational activators for mitochondrial protein synthesis is published:
rdcu.be/eSWxT
A great collaboration with @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social and @sshaolab.bsky.social with structural work from our @pelleeas.bsky.social
Funded by @kawresearch.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eSWxT
A great collaboration with @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social and @sshaolab.bsky.social with structural work from our @pelleeas.bsky.social
Funded by @kawresearch.bsky.social
Reposted by Susan Shao
Our lab is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow. The position is intentionally broad, as we are looking for outstanding researchers from diverse scientific backgrounds to advance our understanding of cilia and ciliopathies: academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15526
HMS - Postdoctoral Fellow in BCMP, Brown Lab
We invite applicants for a postdoctoral fellow position in the Brown lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. The Brown lab uses structural, biophysical, and biochemical approaches to d...
academicpositions.harvard.edu
November 18, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Our lab is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow. The position is intentionally broad, as we are looking for outstanding researchers from diverse scientific backgrounds to advance our understanding of cilia and ciliopathies: academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15526
Reposted by Susan Shao
This was a fun new collaboration using selective ribosome profiling to understand how the subunit composition of the ER translocon is tailored by the nascent chain. Congratulations to everyone involved!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global analysis of translocon remodeling during protein synthesis at the ER - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
The authors use selective ribosome profiling to define how and when factors for N-glycosylation and membrane insertion engage and disengage from the core Sec61 translocation channel during biogenesis ...
www.nature.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:08 PM
This was a fun new collaboration using selective ribosome profiling to understand how the subunit composition of the ER translocon is tailored by the nascent chain. Congratulations to everyone involved!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Beautiful reconstitution of amino acid stress-dependent ISR activation by my @harvardcellbio.bsky.social colleagues presenting a unifying mechanism for GCN2 activation, which requires ribosome collisions and is enhanced by cognate uncharged tRNA in the A site! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
GCN1 couples GCN2 to ribosomal state to initiate amino acid response pathway signaling
During nutrient deprivation, activation of the protein kinase GCN2 regulates cell survival and metabolic homeostasis. In addition to amino acid stress, GCN2 is activated by a variety of cellular stres...
www.science.org
October 3, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Beautiful reconstitution of amino acid stress-dependent ISR activation by my @harvardcellbio.bsky.social colleagues presenting a unifying mechanism for GCN2 activation, which requires ribosome collisions and is enhanced by cognate uncharged tRNA in the A site! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Susan Shao
Thoughts from our own Tom Rapoport on the role of basic science in curing disease. magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/rev...
“Revolutionary Science Comes from Unexpected Angles”
magazine.hms.harvard.edu
July 29, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Thoughts from our own Tom Rapoport on the role of basic science in curing disease. magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/rev...
Reposted by Susan Shao
NIH funding supporting the HMMER and Infernal software projects has been terminated. NIH states that our work, as well as all other federally funded research at Harvard, is of no benefit to the US.
May 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
NIH funding supporting the HMMER and Infernal software projects has been terminated. NIH states that our work, as well as all other federally funded research at Harvard, is of no benefit to the US.
Reposted by Susan Shao
New work @harvard by Miguel Gonzalez-Lozano @harperlabhms.bsky.social & @ernstschmid.bsky.social in Johannes Walter lab charts structural interactome of endosomes. #XL-MS #Alphafold Funded by @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org & NIH. Science continues-despite attacks www.nature.com/articles/s41...
EndoMAP.v1 charts the structural landscape of human early endosome complexes - Nature
A study presents EndoMAP.v1, a resource that combines information on protein interactions and crosslink-supported structural predictions to map the interaction landscape of early endosomes.
www.nature.com
May 28, 2025 at 3:52 PM
New work @harvard by Miguel Gonzalez-Lozano @harperlabhms.bsky.social & @ernstschmid.bsky.social in Johannes Walter lab charts structural interactome of endosomes. #XL-MS #Alphafold Funded by @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org & NIH. Science continues-despite attacks www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Susan Shao
I appreciate the offers from other scientists to help Harvard (students, labs, etc) through this attack, but what would be most helpful is for you to use your position to contact your elected representatives and make it clear this fight isn't just Harvard, it will affect you, and their districts too
May 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I appreciate the offers from other scientists to help Harvard (students, labs, etc) through this attack, but what would be most helpful is for you to use your position to contact your elected representatives and make it clear this fight isn't just Harvard, it will affect you, and their districts too
Reposted by Susan Shao
Trump administration is terminating $2.7 billion in research funding to Harvard:
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Feds yank funds from Harvard breast cancer, fertility, antibiotics research
The Trump administration is following through on threats to terminate $2.7 billion dollars in federal grants and other funding at Harvard University, punishment for alleged antisemitism on campus. One...
www.wbur.org
May 17, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Trump administration is terminating $2.7 billion in research funding to Harvard:
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Exactly - @embo.org RNA Meets Protein Decay was a much-needed scientific hurrah! Thanks to all the participants for the exceptional quality of presentations and active engagement! And to @pauligroup.bsky.social, Manuela, and the @impvienna.bsky.social for being amazing hosts!!
The 2nd edition of the @embo.org workshop 'RNA meets Protein Decay', this time here in Vienna @impvienna.bsky.social, came to an end. Thanks to everyone who came and contributed to the great vibe of sharing science, discussing ideas and connecting with each other!
May 15, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Exactly - @embo.org RNA Meets Protein Decay was a much-needed scientific hurrah! Thanks to all the participants for the exceptional quality of presentations and active engagement! And to @pauligroup.bsky.social, Manuela, and the @impvienna.bsky.social for being amazing hosts!!
Cup? Platter? Stained glass? Our imaginations were inspired (even during uncertain times!) by these beautiful molecular complexes: the Erlin and prohibitin complexes implicated in quality control at the ER and mitochondria, respectively. Check them out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
April 23, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Cup? Platter? Stained glass? Our imaginations were inspired (even during uncertain times!) by these beautiful molecular complexes: the Erlin and prohibitin complexes implicated in quality control at the ER and mitochondria, respectively. Check them out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Susan Shao
My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...
Opinion | Science Suffers With Trump’s Funding Freeze
America’s scientific enterprise demands reliable stewardship, not destabilizing political intervention.
www.wsj.com
April 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...
How do cells achieve an optimal mitochondrial distribution? Excited to share a piece of this puzzle: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
ARMC1 partitions between distinct complexes and assembles MIRO with MTFR to control mitochondrial distribution
ARMC1 partitions between distinct outer mitochondrial membrane complexes and the cytosol to control mitochondrial distribution.
www.science.org
April 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
How do cells achieve an optimal mitochondrial distribution? Excited to share a piece of this puzzle: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
~1 week left to register for the EMBO workshop on RNA meets protein decay! #EMBOrnaDecay
Come join us for a fun time and invigorating scientific discussions in Vienna!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-rna...
Come join us for a fun time and invigorating scientific discussions in Vienna!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-rna...
RNA meets protein decay
Establishing the composition of RNAs and proteins that defines the identities and functions of cells relies not only on the regulated biosynthesis of these molecules, but also equally importantly, on…
meetings.embo.org
March 24, 2025 at 2:15 PM
~1 week left to register for the EMBO workshop on RNA meets protein decay! #EMBOrnaDecay
Come join us for a fun time and invigorating scientific discussions in Vienna!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-rna...
Come join us for a fun time and invigorating scientific discussions in Vienna!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-rna...
Reposted by Susan Shao
Amazing meeting last week in Germany: 130th International Titisee Conferences on Stress Signalling in Development and Disease organized by Brenda Schulman & @micharapelab.bsky.social !
March 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Amazing meeting last week in Germany: 130th International Titisee Conferences on Stress Signalling in Development and Disease organized by Brenda Schulman & @micharapelab.bsky.social !
Reposted by Susan Shao
My thesis work on codanin-1/CDAN1 and the histone chaperone ASF1 is officially out! Take a look here:
@samanthasedor.bsky.social's pet project taking us into completely new directions is out in print form!
rdcu.be/edKuA
rdcu.be/edKuA
March 17, 2025 at 3:43 PM
My thesis work on codanin-1/CDAN1 and the histone chaperone ASF1 is officially out! Take a look here:
@samanthasedor.bsky.social's pet project taking us into completely new directions is out in print form!
rdcu.be/edKuA
rdcu.be/edKuA
March 17, 2025 at 3:19 PM
@samanthasedor.bsky.social's pet project taking us into completely new directions is out in print form!
rdcu.be/edKuA
rdcu.be/edKuA
Check out these insights into (and the importance of) delivering ubiquitin-independent proteasomal substrates for degradation in the nucleus!
Thrilled to share our collaborative work on the structural basis and myeloma disease link of the midnolin-proteasome pathway with Chris Nardone from the Elledge lab, Jingjing Gao from the Shao lab @sshaolab.bsky.social and all the co-authors who put in the hard work! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Structural basis for the midnolin-proteasome pathway and its role in suppressing myeloma
The midnolin-proteasome pathway degrades many nuclear proteins without ubiquitination, but how it operates mechanistically remains unclear. Here, we present structures of the midnolin-proteasome compl...
www.biorxiv.org
February 24, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Check out these insights into (and the importance of) delivering ubiquitin-independent proteasomal substrates for degradation in the nucleus!
Reposted by Susan Shao
Congratulations to our own Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas for recieving the Wiley Prize for his work on the Notch Signaling pathway! We deserved recognition for a pioneer in developmental biology. newsroom.wiley.com/press-releas...
The 23rd Annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences Awarded for Research in Notch Signaling
newsroom.wiley.com
February 18, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Congratulations to our own Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas for recieving the Wiley Prize for his work on the Notch Signaling pathway! We deserved recognition for a pioneer in developmental biology. newsroom.wiley.com/press-releas...
Reposted by Susan Shao
Join me, @talleylambert.bsky.social, @bethcimini.bsky.social, @florianjug.bsky.social & Hunter Elliott for our two week CSHL course on microscopy & image analysis starting March 24, 2025! Applications are due 1/31/25. meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...
Quantitative Imaging: From Acquisition to Analysis
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.
meetings.cshl.edu
January 7, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Join me, @talleylambert.bsky.social, @bethcimini.bsky.social, @florianjug.bsky.social & Hunter Elliott for our two week CSHL course on microscopy & image analysis starting March 24, 2025! Applications are due 1/31/25. meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...
Reposted by Susan Shao
A reminder that the Brown lab has an opening for a postdoc fellow: brown.hms.harvard.edu/jobs/242. This might suit someone from the #cilia community interested in learning structural biology. Deadline extended to the 10th Jan.
Postdoctoral fellow | Brown Lab
The Brown lab at Harvard Medical School is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral fellow to join our team.
brown.hms.harvard.edu
January 2, 2025 at 3:18 PM
A reminder that the Brown lab has an opening for a postdoc fellow: brown.hms.harvard.edu/jobs/242. This might suit someone from the #cilia community interested in learning structural biology. Deadline extended to the 10th Jan.
So many things happen on proteasomes! It was fun to dig into how a the active thioreductase TXNL1 engages the regulatory particle!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Structure of the TXNL1-bound proteasome
Proteasomes degrade diverse proteins in different cellular contexts through incompletely defined regulatory mechanisms. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of thioredoxin-like protein 1 (TXNL1) boun...
www.biorxiv.org
November 11, 2024 at 11:37 AM
So many things happen on proteasomes! It was fun to dig into how a the active thioreductase TXNL1 engages the regulatory particle!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Susan Shao
Happy to be making our first post on bluesky - a photo from our recent departmental retreat. Looking forward to sharing new discoveries and news from our trainees and faculty, as we continue to build a cell biology community here - check us out at cellbio.hms.harvard.edu
November 8, 2024 at 11:59 AM
Happy to be making our first post on bluesky - a photo from our recent departmental retreat. Looking forward to sharing new discoveries and news from our trainees and faculty, as we continue to build a cell biology community here - check us out at cellbio.hms.harvard.edu
A small molecule degrader of the translation termination factor eRF1 = a metal-dependent molecular glue on ribosomes
Learn more here! rdcu.be/du2ZX
Learn more here! rdcu.be/du2ZX
January 3, 2024 at 12:36 PM
A small molecule degrader of the translation termination factor eRF1 = a metal-dependent molecular glue on ribosomes
Learn more here! rdcu.be/du2ZX
Learn more here! rdcu.be/du2ZX