Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics @ Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD
Joined September 2014
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Joshua Modell retweeted
Research Saves Lives
At Johns Hopkins, we just went live with an expansive website showing the extraordinary value of research, the impact of cuts to research, what's at stake, resources for our research community, etc.
Check it out: researchsaveslives.jhu.edu
Joshua Modell retweeted
OUT NOW 🦠 Prediction of strain level phage-host interactions across the Escherichia genus using only genomic information, by @AudeBer @hugovaysset @MDMlab_Paris @iame_center @PhagePasteur
nature.com/articles/s41564-0…
Joshua Modell retweeted
Many bacteria have >1 CRISPR system, and they affect each other! @shallymarg found a 3-way interaction that leads to primed adaptation in the RNA-targeting type VI system, check it out:
Crosstalk between three CRISPR-Cas types enables primed type VI-A adaptation in Listeria seeligeri biorxiv.org/cgi/content/shor… #biorxiv_micrbio
Joshua Modell retweeted
From bacteria to human immunity!
On our quest to idendify eukaryotic homologs of antiphage systems, we discovered a family of SIR2 immune proteins widespread in eukaryotes.
We show that a human homolog, SIRanc, is a novel actor of the TLR pathway.
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
🧵👇
In a new study, we report the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of mammalian innate immunity!!
Co-led with @EnzoZ_P lab, in collab with @morehouse_ben
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Cas proteins in disguise?? Halloween came early this year! 🎃🥸
The final version of our paper on anti-CRISPRs "in disguise" as Cas proteins is out today in Nature! Congrats to Mark, Edith and the whole team! nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
Joshua Modell retweeted
We're excited to see our recent work on multi-functional transposons now in press. Nucleases and guide RNAs and catalytic introns, oh my! See the links and original thread below, for more...
science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
drive.google.com/file/d/1fOV…
Joshua Modell retweeted
👋🏻 I'm absolutely glee-ridden to finally see our study on the RNA- and DNA-binding anti-CRISPR repressor Aca2 published in @Nature. 🥳 This unassuming little helix–turn–helix protein packs quite the punch! 🧶👇🏻
rdcu.be/dNl45
Joshua Modell retweeted
1/ 🧵 Thrilled to share work of @EligoBio just published in @Nature ! We show proof of principle results of efficient base editing performed on E. coli directly in the mouse gut 🦠💡 #Microbiome #SyntheticBiology nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
Marie’s paper is out! We previously showed that Cas9 represses its own promoter to avoid autoimmunity. Marie now shows that this repression generates a mutant subpopulation of CRISPR-Cas overexpressors that expand and contract in response to phage pressure.
OUT NOW 👉 A dynamic subpopulation of CRISPR–Cas overexpressers allows Streptococcus pyogenes to rapidly respond to phage @marie_stoltzfus @jwmodell
nature.com/articles/s41564-0…
Joshua Modell retweeted
If you've induced phages, you may have wondered if you can do the 'opposite' - block entry into lysogeny. You can, using protein synthesis inhibitors! Better still, this yields a potent synergy, functionally turning a temperate phage into a virulent one.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128…
Joshua Modell retweeted
I am delighted to share the newest work from the @SternbergLab, in which we discover RNA-templated gene creation as a mechanism of antiviral immunity. This is a story for anyone who loves molecular biology, and one that repeatedly left us in disbelief. doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.08.5…
Joshua Modell retweeted
Connor's paper is out in Science! Thanks to all the present and former lab members for making this possible.
If you are interested in the mechanisms behind stress induced endocycling or the role of CDK4/6 in maintaining G2 arrest, check it out:
science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
Joshua Modell retweeted
Led by @jakob_tr and @quiles_nuria, with @lasa_lab, we show that prophages utilise noncontiguous operons to balance immunity and autoimmunity. Our results underscore the essential fine regulation of these processes for prophages' life cycle development.
nature.com/articles/s41564-0…
Really beautiful work describing the gatekeepers of phage nuclei!
New preprint from the lab, led by outstanding student Claire Kokontis! (@CKokontis) In this work Claire et al. discover Imp1-Imp6, phage proteins required for the selective import of proteins into the jumbo phage nucleus! Imp1 (below) is the special one.
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Joshua Modell retweeted
The phiKZ jumbo phages build a protein based nucleus to protect their DNA(!), but what do they do before the nucleus is built? Led by outstanding post-doc @MozumdarDeepto, here we identify host and phage proteins in an immediate early phage lipid vesicle.
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Joshua Modell retweeted
Our paper on functional discovery of protein degradation and stabilization effectors with proteome-scale induced proximity screens is out in its final version! 1/ nature.com/articles/s41586-0… rdcu.be/dBUju
Joshua Modell retweeted
Ever wonder why drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis is less fit than drug-susceptible Mtb? And how the bacterium can evolve to compensate for that cost?
CRISPR-Cas systems are often repressed in nature. This likely helps bacteria avoid autoimmunity, but what do you do when a phage shows up? We show that a mutant subpopulation of S. pyogenes overexpresses Cas9 and these superpowered cells may do the real CRISPRin’.
Overexpressers are better at making new memories and using old ones, and they have larger functional arrays than WT cells which are surprisingly forgetful! In the absence of phage, overexpressers fade into the night, but Cas9-dependent mutagenesis continuously regenerates them!
Check out Marie's first first-author manuscript! biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/……
@marie_stoltzfus