Jan-Hannes Schaefer

New preprint! In collaboration with the Akbey lab at UPitt, we solved the cryo-EM structure of FapB, an accessory functional amyloid in Pseudomonas biofilms. It forms a cross-β-solenoid closely related to the major fibril FapC, and the two cross-seed each other. doi.org/10.64898/202...

Turns out it's "A hair in the Soup." Tailocins are recurrent contaminants in ex vivo amyloid extraction. We've updated the preprint and provided actionable recommendations to avoid overinterpreting contaminants. doi.org/10.64898/202...

Imaging large fields-of-view at high resolution in cryo-ET with square beam montaging https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.27.747605v1

Thanks for highlighting our work. I hope it helps the community. Let me know if the Protocol works for you and what @cryosparc.bsky.social could improve.

Against all odds, with an HHS that has defunded mRNA research programs, the FDA just approved the first mRNA flu vaccine

Some questions for our structural biology community: What protocols do you think would be useful to have? Do you prefer to watch step-by-step videos, or follow written instructions? Of course, not everything has to be a video, but certain workflows are simply best documented on video #protocols

Bacteriophage tails co-enrich with ex vivo amyloids from amyloidosis patients. Cryo-EM reveals Siphoviridae tail tube protein in ALys and AL amyloid extract. Do phages interact with human amyloids? @landerlab.bsky.social @nanigrotjahn.bsky.social & Kelly Lab #cryoEM #b3d doi.org/10.64898/202...

New paper out in @actacrystf.iucr.org! We benchmarked cryoSPARC for amyloid helical reconstruction: ease of use over RELION, but amyloid-specific development still needed & software interoperability remains a problem. @landerlab.bsky.social Kelly Lab @scripps.edu doi.org/10.1107/S205...

We are pleased to release an update to this pre-print! Includes (1) proof-of-principle experiments on ultrasonic excitation during plunge vitrification, (2) cryo-ET characterisation of the effect, (3) and insights into grid/ice quality following ultrasonic excitation during vitrification.

This is the kind of work, published today, that should be fully supported and prioritized at the highest level. Currently, there is no vaccine vs the Ebola Bundibugyo virus, the source of a major outbreak www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Try this new online training game from Leandro F. Estrozi designed for newcomers in structural biology, with a focus on cryo-EM and cryo-ET map interpretation: rico.ibs.fr/helixplo...

In our new work from the Kelly, Ye & @landerlab.bsky.social , we link ATTR cardiomyopathy to microangiopathy. Increased capillary permeability exposes components of the vascular basement membrane to misfolded TTR. Work led by Joe Donnelly. #amyloidosis #cryoem #b3d doi.org/10.1161/JAHA...

We're excited to announce the beta-release of #RELION-5.1! 🥳 This release has important updates on our #amyloid processing pipeline, as described in this preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202... There are also some tweaks for #teamtomo. #OpenSoftwareAcceleratesScience

Great to see one of my PhD projects out on bioRxiv. We report "A dual sensor regulates P-glycoproteins structural plasticity." Congrats to Michael Kamel for doing the heavy lifting from @arnemoeller.bsky.social & Urbatsch Lab. doi.org/10.64898/202... #b3d #cryoEM

For obvious reasons, we need a Paceometer! #endroadrage doi.org/10.1017/S193...

I've written a review on what I think is an extremely exciting direction in cryo-EM: Cryo-EM of endogenous membrane proteins in their native lipid bilayer Open access in Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics: doi.org/10.1017/S003...

The new ChimeraX CubeNTube plugin allows erasing parts of maps using cube, cylinder, and custom shapes and has undo. Created by Tamino Cairoli. Available from ChimeraX menu Tools / More Tools....

Since last year, I've been making a RELION GUI that supports viewing, navigating and running jobs in a way completely compatible with the original RELION pipeline. Now it's working nicely for both SPA and tomography! Please try it out - github.com/hanjinliu/hi...

Thanks, I guess we all needed this.

In our new preprint, we show how fibril-dynamics of signaling component TIRAP supports sensitive & fast sensing of endotoxin LPS. Congrats to co-lead @arthurfelker.bsky.social. @piehlerlab.bsky.social @arnemoeller.bsky.social #TLR #cryoEM #blender doi.org/10.64898/202...

Thanks to @actacrystf.iucr.org for highlighting our smart 2D selection tool CryoSift. You can test it yourself here cryosift.org

New preprint! We measured temperature- and pH-induced aggregation for over 18,000 natural and de novo designed protein domains!

Just installed Doppio on our Linux machine. This is awesome work making relion more accessible and easy to run. I haven't tried submitting jobs yet but it is already making our live easier! I met Matt Iadanza at the CZI but I guess he doesn't have bluesky to tag!

CryoSift is now out @actacrystf.iucr.org doi.org/10.1107/S205... Thanks to all involved. Happy processing!

Lauren Alexandrescu et al.: `Mix-it-up': accessible time-resolved cryo-EM on the millisecond timescale #ElectronMicroscopy #CryoEM #TimeResolvedStudies ... #IUCr https://journals.iucr.org/paper?S2052252525008838

Excited to share a new chapter of my scientific journey in Chris Russo's group — developing a way to freeze proteins faster than they diffuse, paving the way for cryo-EM without air–water interface damage.

🚀 Introducing fully automated data processing for repeat-target #cryoEM. Using new tools in #CryoSPARC, it is now possible to obtain resolutions & map quality equal to or better than manual processing, with zero user intervention. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thanks @odedrechavi.bsky.social. Even without explicit coverage of structural biology, it did a great job as Reviewer #0 on my latest preprint. Highly recommend www.qedscience.com

‪We had a fantastic time hosting the first Functional Amyloid Meeting @ DESY! #FFFatDESY2025 #FunctionalFibrilFriends landaulabcssb.bsky.social

Initial attempt at replicating in relion (parameters in next post). This is for Aca2-RNA, using a 100k subset of the 2D-classified particles (no prior 3D cleanup). A 1-class ab initio in relion, then local refinement in relion (1.8deg searches+blush) gives a nominally 3.3Å map; 3.5 Å w/out blush.

❄️ NEW PRE-PRINT ❄️ Happy to see our latest work online. Here we present a super simple solution to the preferred orientation problem in single particle cryo-EM: the use of ultrasonic excitation during vitrification! Details in the 🧵 below... #cryoEM #structuralbiology

Another successful approach to the same problem as HR-HAIR! 🤩 I wonder if a combo might be worth a try - use one frequency band to get perfectly centered particles using 2DTM, then re-estimate orientations using HR-HAIR with a non-overlapping frequency band?

A great resource. One highlight for me is: "One of the best things about structural biology is visualizing what you are discovering."

This one is a bit of a departure from the usual and definitely a work in progress! We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below. Read on for details... 1/x

Magellon has taken off to explore your cryo-EM data! Now out in @iucrj.iucr.org doi.org/10.1107/S205... Congrats to all involved!

Uninspired while making figures? Search no more. #science #art

Our work on "Mechanistic adaptation of the metazoan RabGEFs Mon1-Ccz1 and Fuzzy-Inturned" is now out in Science Advances! Congrats to all involved. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Was lucky to see this presented at the NYC cryoEM meeting earlier this year - super cool stuff!

Di-Gembodies (dimerized nanobodies) for improved and duplexed CryoEM of small and challenging targets! A collaboration of @cmd.ox.ac.uk, STRUBI, @diamondlightsource.bsky.social, @rosfrankinst.bsky.social Out now in Nature Chemical Biology @natchembio.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New @nature.com The possibility that lithium deficiency is a driver of Alzheimer's disease. Experimental model shows Li depletion impedes amyloid clearance, and repletion in humans could be achieved with low doses nature.com/articles/s41...

Check out our new preprint from the @landerlab.bsky.social, Stagg-Lab and Cianfrocco-Lab: CryoSift - An accessible and automated CNN-driven tool for cryo-EM 2D class selection www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Happy testing: cryosift.org #cryoEM #CNN

Now out in Structure: Paper on high-resolution #cryoEM using the 100 kV Tundra cryo-TEM by Dimple Karia, Adrian Koh, @abhaykot.bsky.social, @lingboyu.bsky.social, @landerlab.bsky.social and many others. Happy to have contributed to this effort. Check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...