Ahmad Jomaa
@jomaalab.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, Biochemist, Molecular and Structural Biologist, Husband, Father, Traveller
#cryoem #ribosome #rna
med.virginia.edu/jomaa-lab/
#cryoem #ribosome #rna
med.virginia.edu/jomaa-lab/
Pinned
Ahmad Jomaa
@jomaalab.bsky.social
· Aug 26
Want to know how lipidation of some nascent chains takes place by NMT2-- Check our latest work on how NAC couples Protein Synthesis with Nascent Polypeptide Myristoylation on the Ribosome out today @embojournal.org: www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
How does the kinase ZAK sense ribosome collisions? Find out in our latest collaboration with the @greenlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social @Vienna Huso: 1/4
rdcu.be/eRmJl
#ribosome #cryoEM #LMU #JHMI
rdcu.be/eRmJl
#ribosome #cryoEM #LMU #JHMI
November 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
How does the kinase ZAK sense ribosome collisions? Find out in our latest collaboration with the @greenlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social @Vienna Huso: 1/4
rdcu.be/eRmJl
#ribosome #cryoEM #LMU #JHMI
rdcu.be/eRmJl
#ribosome #cryoEM #LMU #JHMI
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Issue 22:
Maternal antibody interference with rotavirus vaccination
Conserved complex controls developmental & circadian timing
Review: Type IV secretion systems
Method: T-cell smFISH images transcription, RNA localization & fate
Cover: @jomaalab.bsky.social et al
www.embopress.org/toc/14602075...
Maternal antibody interference with rotavirus vaccination
Conserved complex controls developmental & circadian timing
Review: Type IV secretion systems
Method: T-cell smFISH images transcription, RNA localization & fate
Cover: @jomaalab.bsky.social et al
www.embopress.org/toc/14602075...
November 17, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Issue 22:
Maternal antibody interference with rotavirus vaccination
Conserved complex controls developmental & circadian timing
Review: Type IV secretion systems
Method: T-cell smFISH images transcription, RNA localization & fate
Cover: @jomaalab.bsky.social et al
www.embopress.org/toc/14602075...
Maternal antibody interference with rotavirus vaccination
Conserved complex controls developmental & circadian timing
Review: Type IV secretion systems
Method: T-cell smFISH images transcription, RNA localization & fate
Cover: @jomaalab.bsky.social et al
www.embopress.org/toc/14602075...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Termination of the integrated stress response | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Termination of the integrated stress response
Stress responses enable cells to detect, adapt to, and survive challenges. The benefit of these signaling pathways depends on their reversibility. The integrated stress response (ISR) is elicited by p...
www.science.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Termination of the integrated stress response | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
New work from Tahirov x Lim collaboration! @qixianghe.bsky.social from my lab contributed the cryo-EM structures for this work. We are excited to help explain how anti-HSV drugs work and to guide their future development.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
Structural basis of herpesvirus helicase-primase inhibition by pritelivir and amenamevir
Structural studies of HSV-1 helicase-primase revealed how pritelivir and amenamevir bind and block its helicase activity.
www.science.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:14 AM
New work from Tahirov x Lim collaboration! @qixianghe.bsky.social from my lab contributed the cryo-EM structures for this work. We are excited to help explain how anti-HSV drugs work and to guide their future development.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Our paper in Science is out! @souravagrawal.bsky.social, @rlynn.bsky.social, @susvirkar.bsky.social, and the rest of the team show human RPA is a telomerase processivity factor essential for telomere maintenance. This reshapes our thinking about telomerase regulation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Human RPA is an essential telomerase processivity factor for maintaining telomeres
Telomerase counteracts telomere shortening by repeatedly adding DNA repeats to chromosome ends. We identified the replication protein A (RPA) heterotrimer as a telomerase processivity factor critical ...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Our paper in Science is out! @souravagrawal.bsky.social, @rlynn.bsky.social, @susvirkar.bsky.social, and the rest of the team show human RPA is a telomerase processivity factor essential for telomere maintenance. This reshapes our thinking about telomerase regulation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
October 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
We are hiring…position suitable for PhD student with interest in ribosomes, antibiotics and cryoEM…
www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...
www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...
Job advertisement
www.uni-hamburg.de
October 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
We are hiring…position suitable for PhD student with interest in ribosomes, antibiotics and cryoEM…
www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...
www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Now out in Science! Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are key regulators of the cell cycle. In @vcushing.bsky.social's magnum opus, we use #cryoEM to figure out how the CDK-activating kinase recognises CDKs to fully activate them - a key step in cell cycle control.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Structural basis of T-loop–independent recognition and activation of CDKs by the CDK-activating kinase
Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are prototypical regulators of the cell cycle. The CDK-activating kinase (CAK) acts as a master regulator of CDK activity by catalyzing the activating phosphorylation o...
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Now out in Science! Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are key regulators of the cell cycle. In @vcushing.bsky.social's magnum opus, we use #cryoEM to figure out how the CDK-activating kinase recognises CDKs to fully activate them - a key step in cell cycle control.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
✨Excited that the main project of my PhD is now available as a pre-print on #bioRxiv
Here, we used #CryoET to visualise mitochondrial proteostatic stress and together with SPA #CryoEM shed light into the functional cycle of the Hsp60:10 chaperone system. #TeamTomo
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here, we used #CryoET to visualise mitochondrial proteostatic stress and together with SPA #CryoEM shed light into the functional cycle of the Hsp60:10 chaperone system. #TeamTomo
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
✨Excited that the main project of my PhD is now available as a pre-print on #bioRxiv
Here, we used #CryoET to visualise mitochondrial proteostatic stress and together with SPA #CryoEM shed light into the functional cycle of the Hsp60:10 chaperone system. #TeamTomo
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here, we used #CryoET to visualise mitochondrial proteostatic stress and together with SPA #CryoEM shed light into the functional cycle of the Hsp60:10 chaperone system. #TeamTomo
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Out in Science Advances: Our #cryoEM structure of HFTV1, a virus infecting the halophile #archaea. *First full atomic structure (containing all structural proteins) of any tailed virus!* Congrats and thanks to all co-authors and our fantastic collaborators! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cryo-EM resolves the structure of the archaeal dsDNA virus HFTV1 from head to tail
This structure of an archaeal tailed virus (arTV) provides detailed insights into arTV assembly and infection mechanisms.
www.science.org
October 6, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Out in Science Advances: Our #cryoEM structure of HFTV1, a virus infecting the halophile #archaea. *First full atomic structure (containing all structural proteins) of any tailed virus!* Congrats and thanks to all co-authors and our fantastic collaborators! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
The mechanistic basis of cargo selection during Golgi maturation. From Rebecca Taylor, @katciazynska.bsky.social, @jggkaufman.bsky.social & @grigorytagiltsev.bsky.social at @mpibiochem.bsky.social with David Owen and Sean Munro's group @cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social | www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The mechanistic basis of cargo selection during Golgi maturation
Resident proteins of the Golgi recycle in vesicles and the protein GOLPH3 enables the COPI vesicle coat to accomplish this.
www.science.org
October 6, 2025 at 11:39 AM
The mechanistic basis of cargo selection during Golgi maturation. From Rebecca Taylor, @katciazynska.bsky.social, @jggkaufman.bsky.social & @grigorytagiltsev.bsky.social at @mpibiochem.bsky.social with David Owen and Sean Munro's group @cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social | www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
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 Ahmad Jomaa
A molecular-resolution look into the near-native architecture of the spinach chloroplast🌱. This one was a long time in the oven, but we're happy to finally share our "version of record". What long-standing debates did we settle? Check back for a short thread🧵 on Monday. #TeamTomo #PlantScience 🧪🧶🧬🔬🌾
🌱 Using ‘compelling’ methods, including #CryoET, researchers mapped spinach thylakoid membranes at single-molecule precision, revealing how photosynthetic complexes are organised and settling long-standing debates on chloroplast architecture.
buff.ly/j3TSIkn
buff.ly/j3TSIkn
September 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
A molecular-resolution look into the near-native architecture of the spinach chloroplast🌱. This one was a long time in the oven, but we're happy to finally share our "version of record". What long-standing debates did we settle? Check back for a short thread🧵 on Monday. #TeamTomo #PlantScience 🧪🧶🧬🔬🌾
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
How the twin-arginine translocase (Tat) system manages to transport folded proteins across membranes without any leaks? To answer this fundamental question we solved the first structure of TatB3C3 complex with bound cargo. Please check out new preprint!
t.co/962Kj9pt6F
t.co/962Kj9pt6F
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676506v1
t.co
September 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM
How the twin-arginine translocase (Tat) system manages to transport folded proteins across membranes without any leaks? To answer this fundamental question we solved the first structure of TatB3C3 complex with bound cargo. Please check out new preprint!
t.co/962Kj9pt6F
t.co/962Kj9pt6F
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
🚨🧠🔬 A major breakthrough in molecular neuroscience:
I am excited to share a new story from our lab, published in accelerated format today by @nature.com:
"Delta-type glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels"
Read more here (free article link): rdcu.be/eGIKz
I am excited to share a new story from our lab, published in accelerated format today by @nature.com:
"Delta-type glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels"
Read more here (free article link): rdcu.be/eGIKz
September 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
🚨🧠🔬 A major breakthrough in molecular neuroscience:
I am excited to share a new story from our lab, published in accelerated format today by @nature.com:
"Delta-type glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels"
Read more here (free article link): rdcu.be/eGIKz
I am excited to share a new story from our lab, published in accelerated format today by @nature.com:
"Delta-type glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels"
Read more here (free article link): rdcu.be/eGIKz
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
We were one of the lucky ones to receive our NCI award. We have an open postdoctoral fellow or research tech position in the group. If you (or anyone you know) has strong expertise in structural biology or cell biology (genomic instability mechanisms) please reach out. www.antonylab.org
September 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
We were one of the lucky ones to receive our NCI award. We have an open postdoctoral fellow or research tech position in the group. If you (or anyone you know) has strong expertise in structural biology or cell biology (genomic instability mechanisms) please reach out. www.antonylab.org
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Structural studies by Ahmad Jomaa and colleagues @jomaalab.bsky.social show how NAC on translating #ribosomes couples protein synthesis to N-myristoylation of nascent polypeptides by NMT2
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
September 3, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Structural studies by Ahmad Jomaa and colleagues @jomaalab.bsky.social show how NAC on translating #ribosomes couples protein synthesis to N-myristoylation of nascent polypeptides by NMT2
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Sub-cellular chemical mapping in bacteria using correlated cryogenic electron and mass spectrometry imaging
Congrats Hannah Ochner and authors on this important paper! Strong collaboration with @kiranrpatil.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
@mrclmb.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social
Congrats Hannah Ochner and authors on this important paper! Strong collaboration with @kiranrpatil.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
@mrclmb.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social
August 31, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Sub-cellular chemical mapping in bacteria using correlated cryogenic electron and mass spectrometry imaging
Congrats Hannah Ochner and authors on this important paper! Strong collaboration with @kiranrpatil.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
@mrclmb.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social
Congrats Hannah Ochner and authors on this important paper! Strong collaboration with @kiranrpatil.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
@mrclmb.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
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 Ahmad Jomaa
First pre-print from the Lucas Lab led by Matthew Giammar and @joshdcryoem.bsky.social online today! We develop a new, extensible Python implementation of 2DTM and apply it to build pixel size optimization, constrained search and characterize molecular motions in situ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Leopard-EM: An extensible 2DTM package to accelerate in situ structural biology
The ability to generate high-resolution views of cells with cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can reveal the molecular mechanisms of biological processes in their native cellular context. The re...
www.biorxiv.org
August 30, 2025 at 12:49 AM
First pre-print from the Lucas Lab led by Matthew Giammar and @joshdcryoem.bsky.social online today! We develop a new, extensible Python implementation of 2DTM and apply it to build pixel size optimization, constrained search and characterize molecular motions in situ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Glad to share the final version of our story about the UBR4 complex, an E4 ligase protein quality control hub @science.org. Now with more cryo-EM structures and a deeper dive into substrate recognition, especially escaped mitochondrial proteins @clausenlab.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
August 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Glad to share the final version of our story about the UBR4 complex, an E4 ligase protein quality control hub @science.org. Now with more cryo-EM structures and a deeper dive into substrate recognition, especially escaped mitochondrial proteins @clausenlab.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Happy to share our work on the structure and function of the unusual E3 ligase ZNFX1 @cp-cell.bsky.social. It uses a nucleic acid-activated transthiolation mechanism, ubiquitinating and clustering RNA to protect cells in an immune response. @clausenlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
A split-site E3 ligase mechanism enables ZNFX1 to ubiquitinate and cluster single-stranded RNA into ubiquitin-coated nucleoprotein particles
Grabarczyk et al. show the structure and mechanism of a non-canonical ubiquitin ligase,
which is activated through nucleic-acid-induced oligomerization and is critical for
cell survival during immune ...
www.cell.com
August 27, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Happy to share our work on the structure and function of the unusual E3 ligase ZNFX1 @cp-cell.bsky.social. It uses a nucleic acid-activated transthiolation mechanism, ubiquitinating and clustering RNA to protect cells in an immune response. @clausenlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Our new review paper in stalled neuronal ribosomes with Wayne Sossin @mcgill.ca is out today:
portlandpress-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/biochemsoctr...
portlandpress-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/biochemsoctr...
August 27, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Our new review paper in stalled neuronal ribosomes with Wayne Sossin @mcgill.ca is out today:
portlandpress-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/biochemsoctr...
portlandpress-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/biochemsoctr...
Want to know how lipidation of some nascent chains takes place by NMT2-- Check our latest work on how NAC couples Protein Synthesis with Nascent Polypeptide Myristoylation on the Ribosome out today @embojournal.org: www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
August 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Want to know how lipidation of some nascent chains takes place by NMT2-- Check our latest work on how NAC couples Protein Synthesis with Nascent Polypeptide Myristoylation on the Ribosome out today @embojournal.org: www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ahmad Jomaa
Latest from the lab! Analysis of everyone’s favorite regulatory mechanism in bacteria — the RF2 programmed frameshift! Likely present in the ancestor of bacteria, use of this mechanism is influenced by stop codon usage! Big congrats to @cassidyprints.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Conservation and evolution of the programmed ribosomal frameshift in prfB across the bacterial domain | mBio
Translation termination is catalyzed by one of two release factors in bacteria, RF1 or RF2. It has been known for decades that RF2 levels in Escherichia coli are regulated by a programmed ribosomal frameshift within the prfB gene that encodes RF2. We ...
journals.asm.org
August 19, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Latest from the lab! Analysis of everyone’s favorite regulatory mechanism in bacteria — the RF2 programmed frameshift! Likely present in the ancestor of bacteria, use of this mechanism is influenced by stop codon usage! Big congrats to @cassidyprints.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...