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Karousis Lab

@karousislab.bsky.social

170 followers 140 following 34 posts

Group leader in Bern, Cell-free translation enthusiast enjoying teaching, once upon @RNAKook on x-Twitter https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=24B_5toAAAAJ&hl=en https://www.ekarousis.net/

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 2d

🚀 New preprint!
We used a human cell-free translation screen (~28 000 compounds) to discover NT-2, a #Fusarium -derived #mycotoxin that blocks human ribosomes.
#Cryo-EM at 1.72 Å reveals a link between chemical inhibition and ribosome dormancy.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A human cell-free translation screen identifies the NT-2 mycotoxin as a ribosomal peptidyl transferase inhibitor

Translation inhibitors are invaluable for probing ribosome function and therapeutic applications, but systematic discovery in human systems is limited by the lack of scalable, screening-compatible cel...

www.biorxiv.org

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 2d

#RNASky #BiologySky #CryoEM

Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 2d

This work was possible thanks with the Cryo-EM hub at the @ethz.ch and the BSF screening facility at the EPFL.
@nccr-rna-disease.bsky.social @mcid-unibe.bsky.social

Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 2d

🧬 NT-2 binds at 60S PTC where peptide bonds form and stabilizes an inactive SERBP1-bound state only when living cells are treated,
establishing a direct structural link between a small-molecule inhibitor and ribosome dormancy.
#translation #cryoEM #biochemistry

Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 2d

💡 We built a quantitative human-based cell-free translation platform that tests thousands of reactions in parallel, directly measuring protein synthesis while bypassing cellular toxicity.

#quantitativebiology #RNA #ribosome #cellfree #drugdiscovery

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 2d

A human cell-free translation screen identifies the NT-2 mycotoxin as a ribosomal peptidyl transferase inhibitor

www.biorxiv.org

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 14d

It was a joy hosting @mandymuller.bsky.social in Bern!

Mandy Muller @mandymuller.bsky.social · 15d

I had a great time yesterday visiting the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Bern - thanks @karousislab.bsky.social for the invite!

Reposted by Karousis Lab

Paradisi Research @paradisireslab.bsky.social · 25d

Nature Reviews Methods Primers (2025): "Flow biocatalysis"

https://paradisiresearch.com/research-highlights/nature-reviews-methods-primers-2025-flow-biocatalysis/

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · 24d

Very exciting and nicely illustrated! Congratulations!

Reposted by Karousis Lab

Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social · Sep 7

Polysomes and mRNA control the biophysical properties of the eukaryotic cytoplasm

Gade et al. report that polysomes and mRNA levels impact the biophysical properties of the cytoplasm. Using passive rheology probes and single-particle tracking, they demonstrate that intracellular diffusion is enhanced when polysomes are disassembled or when mRNA levels are reduced in eukaryotic cells.

dlvr.it

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · Sep 11

*️⃣ Step-by-step STAR protocol for Cell-free translation and mRNA decay *️⃣
What to do (and what not to do 😅) guide based on our work on Nsp1 published in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@unibe.ch @mcid-unibe.bsky.social @nccr-rna-disease.bsky.social @snf-fns.ch

Protocol for monitoring mRNA translation and degradation in human cell-free lysates

Cell-free translation is a powerful tool for studying protein synthesis. Here, we present a protocol for monitoring mRNA translation and degradation u…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · Aug 30

Excellent science, impeccable organisation and breathtaking views in and out the #RNA turnover #BiochemEvent in Brighton, UK 🌊🧬 @biochemsoc.bsky.social

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Reposted by Karousis Lab

Vikram Agarwal @vagar.bsky.social · Jul 25

Very excited that our most significant work, a collaboration w/ Dr. Can Cenik at UT Austin on translational gene regulation, was finally published in Nature Biotechnology in a dual set of studies:

Paper 1 -- an AI model trained to predict translation rates from mRNA sequences: rdcu.be/exN1l

Predicting the translation efficiency of messenger RNA in mammalian cells

Nature Biotechnology - A deep convolutional neural network model predicts the influence of the full-length mRNA sequence on translation efficiency.

url.de.m.mimecastprotect.com

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Reposted by Karousis Lab

Nature Biotechnology @natbiotech.nature.com · Jul 25

Translation efficiency covariation identifies conserved coordination patterns across cell types go.nature.com/3TXvmZy

Translation efficiency covariation identifies conserved coordination patterns across cell types - Nature Biotechnology

Matched ribosome profiling and RNA sequencing data quantify translation efficiency patterns across 140 human and mouse cell lines.

go.nature.com

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · Jul 24

🌊 Potential lab logo 🌊

Reposted by Karousis Lab

The BanLab @thebanlab.bsky.social · Jul 12

New paper out in Mol Cell, where we show how N-myristolytransferases lipidate proteins on the translating ribosome!
Continuing our successful collaboration with DeuerlingLab @uni-konstanz.de & Shu-ou Chan @caltech.edu
@snsf.ch @ethz.ch
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

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Reposted by Karousis Lab

Eugene Valkov @eugenevalkov.bsky.social · Jul 13

Happy to share the latest work on a bacterial protein that inhibits human mRNA decay machinery, in collaboration with @smlea.bsky.social #RNAsky

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Intracellular pathogen effector reprograms host gene expression by inhibiting mRNA decay | Nature Communications

Intracellular pathogen effector reprograms host gene expression by inhibiting mRNA decay - Nature Communications

Intracellular pathogens hijack host gene expression to subvert cellular processes. Here, the authors show that Legionella pneumophila’s PieF effector inhibits the human CCR4-NOT deadenylation machiner...

www.nature.com

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · Jul 3

What if I told you, there is a way to pause the time?

Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · Jun 19

Great read from Akis and colleagues! @akispapantonis.bsky.social

Nature Reviews Genetics @natrevgenet.nature.com · Jun 19

New online! RNA polymerase II transcription compartments — from factories to condensates

RNA polymerase II transcription compartments — from factories to condensates

Nature Reviews Genetics, Published online: 19 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41576-025-00859-6In this Review, Rippe and Papantonis describe advances in understanding the role of transcription compartments in gene regulation, specifically by collating and contrasting historical work on transcription factories with more recent work on transcriptional condensates.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Karousis Lab

Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 19

A protein produced by the pathogenic bacteria Helicobacter pylori can block amyloid proteins from clustering, new #ScienceAdvances research finds.

Helicobacter pylori CagA protein is a potent and broad-spectrum amyloid inhibitor

Helicobacter pylori CagA protein strongly inhibits functional and pathogenic amyloid fibril formation in both bacteria and humans.

scim.ag

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · May 28

Our method paper to produce efficient cell-free translation lysates from diverse human cell types is out 🎉 www.jbc.org/article/S002... @unibe.ch @mcid-unibe.bsky.social
@muehlemann.bsky.social @nickkouvelas.bsky.social

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · May 23

Thanks a lot, Jonathan!

Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · May 23

Winning the lecturer of the year award from the #Biology department of @unibe.ch definitely made my day 🤩🎉 (after a tough week, otherwise 😅). UniBern has been very supportive and generous in providing excellent teaching courses so KUDOS to them!

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · May 8

I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity to present our work and exchange ideas with the research community at LMU Munich hosted by Jonathan Bohlen! @jonathanbohlen.bsky.social @jonathanbohlen.bsky.social @unibe.ch @mcid-unibe.bsky.social @nccr-rna-disease.bsky.social

Gene Center Munich @LMU Munich @genecenter-lmu.bsky.social · May 8

We're happy to welcome Evangelos Karousis next Monday! 🎉
He’ll be talking about “Decoding viral secrets using cell-free translation” 🧬
📅 May 12 🕐 1:15 PM ➡️Lynen Lecture Hall
Don’t miss it! 🤗✨
@karousislab.bsky.social @jonathanbohlen.bsky.social
@unibe.ch

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Karousis Lab @karousislab.bsky.social · Apr 6

Lessons on how to breathe 🌳🇨🇭
#Biochemistry #academicteaching @unibe.ch

Reposted by Karousis Lab

Universität Bern @unibe.ch · Apr 1

🦠😷 Researchers at the #unibern have gained new insights into an early mechanism of #coronavirus infection. 👉 mediarelations.unibe.ch/media_releas...

@karousislab.bsky.social @nccr-rna-disease.bsky.social @mcid-unibe.bsky.social

Image: © Adrian Bothe

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