The hinge bypass gate paper is finally out! doi.org/10.1038/s414...

We show how loop-extruding SMC complexes can maintain DNA entrapment while bypassing obstacles on DNA — including transcription machinery & potentially other SMCs.

A lucky convergence of 3 projects lead to the initial discovery!

open postdoc call in our friendly neighborgroup with Esben Lorentzen. Higly recommed🌟:
www.au.dk/om/stillinge...

This was a fun collaboration between Ophélie & the @seegerlab.bsky.social using sybody libraries to target the SMC complex in living bacteria. With a suprising finding: the 14 isolated sybodies bind to the middle of the SMC coiled coil rather than the more conserved ATPase heads.

Single Domain Antibody Inhibitors Target the Coiled Coil Arms of the Bacillus subtilis SMC complex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.16.682983v1

Something a bit different from the Gruber lab: More than 10 years ago, we (and others) tried to linearize the B. subtilis chromosome using a phage telomere (successfully used before in E. coli). But it did not work.

Happy to share our latest work. Wadjet-I SMC hinges are gates allowing selective bypass of obstacles connected through ssDNA BUT are dispensable for extrusion of naked DNA.

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

Yet another preprint from the lab—this one is personal. During my PhD, I ended up working on the cohesin SMC hinge, showing its role in sister chromatid cohesion and proposing it as a DNA entry gate in the SMC ring. But the details have remained mysterious and controversial.

The SMC Hinge is a Selective Gate for Obstacle Bypass https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.17.643644v1

The plasmids described in our recent ‘4G-cloning’ paper for multi-subunit complex expression (www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/1/...) are now available from @addgene.bsky.social (www.addgene.org/search/catal...). Thanks to Addgene for distribution in this convenient and affordable format!

If your new year resolution is doing a PhD, there is still time left to apply for a project in my group looking at how the condensin complex undergoes such large conformational changes while making loops. I mean look at how cool the starting model is:

Preprint suggesting that (monomeric) SMC motors are asymmetric DNA loop extruders (with some being able to change direction). In our hands, this surprisingly includes Smc5/6 (unlike previously found)

t.co/5GTyutD5o7

from Roman, C. Dekker and Jan-Michael Peters labs (& little contribution from us)

First preprint 📢 on bsky: New work on the Wadjet defence system by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & @drhonsworth.bsky.social revealing beautiful & exciting structures of JET on plasmid DNA. With loop extrusion, obstacles, DNA bending, kinking, cleavage 🦠🧫 🧪
t.co/RaO7IO3zDk 
With help from @DCI_Lausanne