Francesca Mattiroli
@fmattiroli.bsky.social
Biochemist and structural biologist with a love for chromatin. Group leader at the Hubrecht Institute.
Pinned
Some (+)ve news to lighten another heavy weekend: our latest preprint (c/o Mattiroli + Ramani labs) is up!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A tour-de-force by 1st authors Bruna Eckhardt & @palindromephd.bsky.social, focusing on chromatin replication. RTs welcome; tweetorial in 3,2...(1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A tour-de-force by 1st authors Bruna Eckhardt & @palindromephd.bsky.social, focusing on chromatin replication. RTs welcome; tweetorial in 3,2...(1/n)
The eukaryotic replisome intrinsically generates asymmetric daughter chromatin fibers
DNA replication is molecularly asymmetric, due to distinct mechanisms for lagging and leading strand DNA synthesis. Whether chromatin assembly on newly replicated strands is also asymmetric remains un...
www.biorxiv.org
The latest work from ours and @vram142.bsky.social lab is out! True teamwork to visualize nascent chromatin with strand resolution, using a fully reconstituted system. Very proud of superstar-PhD student Bruna, and @palindromephd.bsky.social. Learning so much from Vijay’s amazing technologies! RT
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
@science.org 🧬🔬 Multiscale structure of #chromatin condensates explains phase separation and material properties | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @janhuemar.bsky.social et al.
Multiscale structure of chromatin condensates explains phase separation and material properties
The structure and interaction networks of molecules within biomolecular condensates are poorly understood. Using cryo–electron tomography and molecular dynamics simulations, we elucidated the structur...
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 5:24 AM
@science.org 🧬🔬 Multiscale structure of #chromatin condensates explains phase separation and material properties | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @janhuemar.bsky.social et al.
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
❄️The 2026 Winter Session of GIIN Webinars is here! Join us on the first Tuesday of each month at 5 PM (Rome) / 11 AM (NYC).
No pre-registration needed, simply join via Zoom: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403
Want reminders? Subscribe here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
No pre-registration needed, simply join via Zoom: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403
Want reminders? Subscribe here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
December 3, 2025 at 12:01 AM
❄️The 2026 Winter Session of GIIN Webinars is here! Join us on the first Tuesday of each month at 5 PM (Rome) / 11 AM (NYC).
No pre-registration needed, simply join via Zoom: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403
Want reminders? Subscribe here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
No pre-registration needed, simply join via Zoom: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403
Want reminders? Subscribe here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions:
Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building
Spread the word...
www.biologists.com/grants/devel...
Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building
Spread the word...
www.biologists.com/grants/devel...
Development's Pathway to Independence Programme
Our grants support and encourage the sharing of knowledge throughout the community by facilitating international collaboration, event attendance and the organisation of scientific meetings, conference...
www.biologists.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions:
Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building
Spread the word...
www.biologists.com/grants/devel...
Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building
Spread the word...
www.biologists.com/grants/devel...
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Our story on the kinetochore composition of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila is out now on bioRxiv! We find surprisingly many orthologs of conventional kinetochore components, but also components that have very different evolutionary origins. A 🧵 (1/11)
Check it out here: tinyurl.com/4ectm9x4
Check it out here: tinyurl.com/4ectm9x4
tinyurl.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Our story on the kinetochore composition of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila is out now on bioRxiv! We find surprisingly many orthologs of conventional kinetochore components, but also components that have very different evolutionary origins. A 🧵 (1/11)
Check it out here: tinyurl.com/4ectm9x4
Check it out here: tinyurl.com/4ectm9x4
Do you want an excuse to visit Japan and also hear great science on chromosome dynamics?! Check out this great meeting. registrations are open now
Chromosome Dynamics 2026 @ Awaji Japan www.fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp/labs/fukagaw...
December 1, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Do you want an excuse to visit Japan and also hear great science on chromosome dynamics?! Check out this great meeting. registrations are open now
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
The most amazing thing I ever saw: hundreds and hundreds of dolphins
November 29, 2025 at 7:42 PM
The most amazing thing I ever saw: hundreds and hundreds of dolphins
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Happy to share our most recent work www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... Here we describe how efficient DNA replication in E. coli is dependent on an interaction between SSB-ssDNA and the DNA polymerase (Pol III). Thanks to all the co-authors for their hard work!
Genome integrity relies on rapid recycling of DNA Pol III in bacteria | PNAS
DNA replication requires precise coordination between DNA unwinding and DNA synthesis.
In all domains of life, protein–protein interactions at the ...
www.pnas.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Happy to share our most recent work www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... Here we describe how efficient DNA replication in E. coli is dependent on an interaction between SSB-ssDNA and the DNA polymerase (Pol III). Thanks to all the co-authors for their hard work!
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Join us in Lunteren, the Netherlands on March 5 & 6, 2026 for the 32nd Dutch Cancer Biology meeting. We have two fantastic keynote speakers: @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social and @colindascheele.bsky.social and the rest of the program will be by early-career scientists. Info: www.dutchcancerbiology.nl
November 22, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Join us in Lunteren, the Netherlands on March 5 & 6, 2026 for the 32nd Dutch Cancer Biology meeting. We have two fantastic keynote speakers: @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social and @colindascheele.bsky.social and the rest of the program will be by early-career scientists. Info: www.dutchcancerbiology.nl
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Thrilled to share that the final piece of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With support from @nvidia and the @NSF, we used AlphaFold to screen 1.6M+ protein pairs, revealing thousands of potential novel PPIs. All data can be viewed at predictomes.org/hp
Proteome-wide in silico screening for human protein-protein interactions
Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) drive virtually all biological processes, yet most PPIs have not been identified and even more remain structurally unresolved. We developed a two-step computational...
biorxiv.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Thrilled to share that the final piece of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With support from @nvidia and the @NSF, we used AlphaFold to screen 1.6M+ protein pairs, revealing thousands of potential novel PPIs. All data can be viewed at predictomes.org/hp
Thank you for “taking us with you” with these updates. So jealous! Hope it brings lots of specimens and discoveries!
2470m down - tracking the bottom. The sediment is flat with large spirals drawn by worms in the mud. Anyone thinking Escrt-III?
November 22, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Thank you for “taking us with you” with these updates. So jealous! Hope it brings lots of specimens and discoveries!
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
#AsgardArchaea team, led by @archaeal.bsky.social fr @texasscience.bsky.social — sequencing the DNA collected fr mouth of Rio de la Plata to the continental shelf of Uruguay to detect Asgards, a group of single-celled organisms & our closest microbial relatives on the tree of life. bit.ly/3MdniTH
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
#AsgardArchaea team, led by @archaeal.bsky.social fr @texasscience.bsky.social — sequencing the DNA collected fr mouth of Rio de la Plata to the continental shelf of Uruguay to detect Asgards, a group of single-celled organisms & our closest microbial relatives on the tree of life. bit.ly/3MdniTH
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Last few days to apply for this PhD project in our lab. Mix of biochemistry and structural biology, DNA replication and ubiquitin signalling. Get in touch if interested. Full application through official university portal. Deadline on 27th of November!
Fully-funded 4-years competitive PhD project in our lab (MIBTP-doctoral-training-programme. p97 unfoldase functions during DNA replication. Open to UK/international candidates. Please get in touch for informal enquiries. Deadline 27th of November. Please share.
warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...
warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...
Professor Aga Gambus
Professor Aga Gambus
warwick.ac.uk
November 22, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Last few days to apply for this PhD project in our lab. Mix of biochemistry and structural biology, DNA replication and ubiquitin signalling. Get in touch if interested. Full application through official university portal. Deadline on 27th of November!
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Very excited to present OpenCGChromatin🔥🔥🔥
A new coarse-grained model that probes full chromatin condensates at near-atomistic resolution to reveal the molecular regulation of chromatin structure and phase separation
Brilliantly led by @kieran-russell.bsky.social, with the Rosen and Orozco groups
A new coarse-grained model that probes full chromatin condensates at near-atomistic resolution to reveal the molecular regulation of chromatin structure and phase separation
Brilliantly led by @kieran-russell.bsky.social, with the Rosen and Orozco groups
November 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Very excited to present OpenCGChromatin🔥🔥🔥
A new coarse-grained model that probes full chromatin condensates at near-atomistic resolution to reveal the molecular regulation of chromatin structure and phase separation
Brilliantly led by @kieran-russell.bsky.social, with the Rosen and Orozco groups
A new coarse-grained model that probes full chromatin condensates at near-atomistic resolution to reveal the molecular regulation of chromatin structure and phase separation
Brilliantly led by @kieran-russell.bsky.social, with the Rosen and Orozco groups
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
📢 Last days to apply! 📢
Fully funded PhD position, starting Oct 2026.
Deadline Nov 16th.
We provide a supportive environment and top notch facilities, helping you develop into an independent scientist.
Project details: tinyurl.com/CosterPhD
Apply: tinyurl.com/ApplyICR
The lab: CosterLab.com
Fully funded PhD position, starting Oct 2026.
Deadline Nov 16th.
We provide a supportive environment and top notch facilities, helping you develop into an independent scientist.
Project details: tinyurl.com/CosterPhD
Apply: tinyurl.com/ApplyICR
The lab: CosterLab.com
Typos in the genome: Defining the molecular mechanism of replication slippage
Typos in the genome: Defining the molecular mechanism of replication slippage
tinyurl.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:04 PM
📢 Last days to apply! 📢
Fully funded PhD position, starting Oct 2026.
Deadline Nov 16th.
We provide a supportive environment and top notch facilities, helping you develop into an independent scientist.
Project details: tinyurl.com/CosterPhD
Apply: tinyurl.com/ApplyICR
The lab: CosterLab.com
Fully funded PhD position, starting Oct 2026.
Deadline Nov 16th.
We provide a supportive environment and top notch facilities, helping you develop into an independent scientist.
Project details: tinyurl.com/CosterPhD
Apply: tinyurl.com/ApplyICR
The lab: CosterLab.com
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Chromatin fatigue: DNA repair alters the chromatin environment and introduces heritable variation in gene expression in a larger region around the lesion! Amazing achievement by @sbantele.bsky.social and Jiri Lukas published in @science.org 🙌 Happy we could contribute. See 👇
𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗡𝗔 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲?Excited to share our new study “Repair of DNA double-strand breaks leaves heritable impairment to genome function”, revealing DNA repair’s hidden cost, out now @science.org tinyurl.com/5n6zw3ye. Led by @sbantele.bsky.social and Jiri Lukas.🧵👇1/n
Repair of DNA double-strand breaks leaves heritable impairment to genome function
Upon DNA breakage, a genomic locus undergoes alterations in three-dimensional chromatin architecture to facilitate signaling and repair. Although cells possess mechanisms to repair damaged DNA, it is ...
tinyurl.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Chromatin fatigue: DNA repair alters the chromatin environment and introduces heritable variation in gene expression in a larger region around the lesion! Amazing achievement by @sbantele.bsky.social and Jiri Lukas published in @science.org 🙌 Happy we could contribute. See 👇
Beautiful work!!
𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗡𝗔 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲?Excited to share our new study “Repair of DNA double-strand breaks leaves heritable impairment to genome function”, revealing DNA repair’s hidden cost, out now @science.org tinyurl.com/5n6zw3ye. Led by @sbantele.bsky.social and Jiri Lukas.🧵👇1/n
Repair of DNA double-strand breaks leaves heritable impairment to genome function
Upon DNA breakage, a genomic locus undergoes alterations in three-dimensional chromatin architecture to facilitate signaling and repair. Although cells possess mechanisms to repair damaged DNA, it is ...
tinyurl.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Beautiful work!!
This is really great news for the Dutch structural biology community, a much needed upgrade of the national EM infrastructure. Thank you Friedrich and the many others who put in a lot of work to make this a reality!
Very happy that NWO supports this major upgrade of our national EM infrastructure. It is great that this initiative got broad support all over NL, and it will EMPower fantastic science - looking forward to that!
www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...
www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...
33 million euro investment for national electron microscope facility EMPower
A major new national facility for electron microscopy, called EMPower, has been awarded to a consortium of Dutch universities and medical centers. EMPower aims to pave the way for major discoveries im...
www.uu.nl
November 4, 2025 at 8:12 PM
This is really great news for the Dutch structural biology community, a much needed upgrade of the national EM infrastructure. Thank you Friedrich and the many others who put in a lot of work to make this a reality!
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Very happy that NWO supports this major upgrade of our national EM infrastructure. It is great that this initiative got broad support all over NL, and it will EMPower fantastic science - looking forward to that!
www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...
www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...
33 million euro investment for national electron microscope facility EMPower
A major new national facility for electron microscopy, called EMPower, has been awarded to a consortium of Dutch universities and medical centers. EMPower aims to pave the way for major discoveries im...
www.uu.nl
November 4, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Very happy that NWO supports this major upgrade of our national EM infrastructure. It is great that this initiative got broad support all over NL, and it will EMPower fantastic science - looking forward to that!
www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...
www.uu.nl/en/news/33-m...
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
I'm excited to share our work on the regulation of endomitosis in worm intestines:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find that cells are able to uncouple nuclear division from cell division by transcriptional repression of key cytokinesis regulators
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find that cells are able to uncouple nuclear division from cell division by transcriptional repression of key cytokinesis regulators
Transcriptional repression of central spindle factors controls endomitosis in the C. elegans intestine
During development, many cell types transition from canonical to non-canonical cell cycles, suchas endomitosis and endoreplication, in which they duplicate their DNA but do not divide, giving rise to ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 5, 2025 at 10:27 AM
I'm excited to share our work on the regulation of endomitosis in worm intestines:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find that cells are able to uncouple nuclear division from cell division by transcriptional repression of key cytokinesis regulators
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find that cells are able to uncouple nuclear division from cell division by transcriptional repression of key cytokinesis regulators
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
John Gurdon, former Group Leader and Head of @cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social has died.
Despite calling himself a "total non-intellectual” his work to reprogramme somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells transformed the field of developmental biology.
More: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/john-gurdon-...
#LMBNews
Despite calling himself a "total non-intellectual” his work to reprogramme somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells transformed the field of developmental biology.
More: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/john-gurdon-...
#LMBNews
October 8, 2025 at 8:49 AM
John Gurdon, former Group Leader and Head of @cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social has died.
Despite calling himself a "total non-intellectual” his work to reprogramme somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells transformed the field of developmental biology.
More: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/john-gurdon-...
#LMBNews
Despite calling himself a "total non-intellectual” his work to reprogramme somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells transformed the field of developmental biology.
More: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/john-gurdon-...
#LMBNews
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Save the date! The second Hubrecht Symposium will take place on March 26, 2026. This year’s theme is “Molecular Machines in Development”, with Petra Hajkova, Andrea Pauli and @danielgerlich.bsky.social as keynote speakers. Registration opens soon, stay tuned via hubrecht.eu/hubrecht-symposium/.
October 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Save the date! The second Hubrecht Symposium will take place on March 26, 2026. This year’s theme is “Molecular Machines in Development”, with Petra Hajkova, Andrea Pauli and @danielgerlich.bsky.social as keynote speakers. Registration opens soon, stay tuned via hubrecht.eu/hubrecht-symposium/.
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
⚠️ Paper alert: Using a novel CRISPR screening approach, we mapped the entire regulatory network controlling Xist—key for X-chromosome inactivation.
👉 We discover how sex and development signals are decoded at a single gene locus.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👇 Bluetorial
👉 We discover how sex and development signals are decoded at a single gene locus.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👇 Bluetorial
Reporter CRISPR screens decipher cis-regulatory and trans-regulatory principles at the Xist locus - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Here Schwämmle et al. develop CRISPR reporter screens to map transcription-factor-regulatory element interactions at the Xist locus, revealing a two-step mechanism integrating developmental and X-dosage signals to initiate X-chromosome inactivation.
www.nature.com
October 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
⚠️ Paper alert: Using a novel CRISPR screening approach, we mapped the entire regulatory network controlling Xist—key for X-chromosome inactivation.
👉 We discover how sex and development signals are decoded at a single gene locus.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👇 Bluetorial
👉 We discover how sex and development signals are decoded at a single gene locus.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👇 Bluetorial
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Today I am so pleased to present our work on how chromatin remodelers affect mesoscale chromatin organization.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
ATP-dependent remodeling of chromatin condensates reveals distinct mesoscale outcomes
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes mobilize nucleosomes, but how such mobilization affects chromatin condensation is unclear. We investigate effects of two major remod...
www.science.org
October 2, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Today I am so pleased to present our work on how chromatin remodelers affect mesoscale chromatin organization.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Francesca Mattiroli
Next week GIIN webinar will feature @fmattiroli.bsky.social and Marco Tigano. Join us on Tuesday, October 7th at 5 PM Rome / 11 AM NYC via zoom: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403
Register here to become part of our community: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Register here to become part of our community: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
September 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Next week GIIN webinar will feature @fmattiroli.bsky.social and Marco Tigano. Join us on Tuesday, October 7th at 5 PM Rome / 11 AM NYC via zoom: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403
Register here to become part of our community: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Register here to become part of our community: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Join us at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht to start your research group! Fantastic scientific environment, strong support, and nice colleagues :) Apply and please share broadly in your network.
Ready to establish your own research group at the Hubrecht Institute for Molecular and Developmental Biology? We’re seeking a tenure-track group leader to develop an innovative research line within our vibrant scientific community. Learn more & apply! https://f.mtr.cool/jncxfqkuds
September 28, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Join us at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht to start your research group! Fantastic scientific environment, strong support, and nice colleagues :) Apply and please share broadly in your network.