Lucas Farnung
@lucas.farnunglab.com
Associate Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School | HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar | Nexus of chromatin, transcription, replication, and epigenetics. farnunglab.com
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Excited to share our new preprint on in situ chromatin structure of the inactive X chromosome in differentiated female mouse embryonic stem cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵1/8
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵1/8
September 14, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Excited to share our new preprint on in situ chromatin structure of the inactive X chromosome in differentiated female mouse embryonic stem cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵1/8
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵1/8
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Happy to share our new preprint on the structure of the human mitochondrial RNA degradosome, a central player in organellar RNA metabolism!
Work led by graduate student @paulafprado.bsky.social in our group.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 1/9
Work led by graduate student @paulafprado.bsky.social in our group.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 1/9
September 11, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Happy to share our new preprint on the structure of the human mitochondrial RNA degradosome, a central player in organellar RNA metabolism!
Work led by graduate student @paulafprado.bsky.social in our group.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 1/9
Work led by graduate student @paulafprado.bsky.social in our group.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵 1/9
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
⚡Preprint alert⚡ So proud of @amohamed98.bsky.social! Abdallah determined the cryo-EM structure of BRD4 bound to the kinase P-TEFb, defining the molecular basis of this key transcription interaction — and revealing that BRD4 and AFF4 binding are mutually exclusive to P-TEFb. Lots more inside 👇
September 8, 2026 at 5:25 PM
⚡Preprint alert⚡ So proud of @amohamed98.bsky.social! Abdallah determined the cryo-EM structure of BRD4 bound to the kinase P-TEFb, defining the molecular basis of this key transcription interaction — and revealing that BRD4 and AFF4 binding are mutually exclusive to P-TEFb. Lots more inside 👇
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Congratulations to @harvardcellbio.bsky.social faculty member Corey Allard, who has been named a 2026 Vallee Scholar! Well deserved. @valleefoundation.bsky.social
September 6, 2026 at 7:50 AM
Congratulations to @harvardcellbio.bsky.social faculty member Corey Allard, who has been named a 2026 Vallee Scholar! Well deserved. @valleefoundation.bsky.social
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
🚀 Next week we will be at the 2026 New England #Cryo-EM Symposium at MIT, showcasing recent #CryoSPARC developments.
If you're attending, we'd love to connect! cryoem.mit.edu/2026-ne-cryo...
If you're attending, we'd love to connect! cryoem.mit.edu/2026-ne-cryo...
September 3, 2026 at 12:01 PM
🚀 Next week we will be at the 2026 New England #Cryo-EM Symposium at MIT, showcasing recent #CryoSPARC developments.
If you're attending, we'd love to connect! cryoem.mit.edu/2026-ne-cryo...
If you're attending, we'd love to connect! cryoem.mit.edu/2026-ne-cryo...
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Our new study shows a CHD-family remodeler can nucleate and spread H3K9 methylation de novo, inverting the canonical hierarchy between writers and remodelers. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Nucleosome remodeling by a CHD enzyme promotes H3K9 methylation establishment and spreading via remodeler-writer feedback
In Schizosaccharomyces pombe , the conserved CHD remodeler Mit1 function within the SHREC remodeler-deacetylase complex (a homolog of the metazoan Mi-2/NuRD complex), which is essential for H3K9 methy...
www.biorxiv.org
August 3, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Our new study shows a CHD-family remodeler can nucleate and spread H3K9 methylation de novo, inverting the canonical hierarchy between writers and remodelers. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Work from Tao Fu in @harperlabhms.bsky.social reports DNAJC13 structure, revealing both a dimeric architecture & binding of InsP6 to dual PH domains. Both features promote recycling endosome functions such as melanin production @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Structural Mechanisms of DNAJC13 Dimeric Assembly and InsP6 binding in Recycling Endosome Regulation
The balance of plasma membrane protein degradation and recycling during endocytosis is regulated, in part, by the large J-domain-containing protein DNAJC13/RME-8 and WASH complexes, which function tog...
www.biorxiv.org
July 29, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Work from Tao Fu in @harperlabhms.bsky.social reports DNAJC13 structure, revealing both a dimeric architecture & binding of InsP6 to dual PH domains. Both features promote recycling endosome functions such as melanin production @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Your cryo-EM work deserves to be seen 🔬 Submit your poster or talk abstract for the annual New England cryo-EM symposium by July 15th. The meeting will be held September 8th at MIT. This is the place to be if you are doing structural biology in the Northeast! Register: cryoem.mit.edu/2026-ne-cryo...
July 1, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Your cryo-EM work deserves to be seen 🔬 Submit your poster or talk abstract for the annual New England cryo-EM symposium by July 15th. The meeting will be held September 8th at MIT. This is the place to be if you are doing structural biology in the Northeast! Register: cryoem.mit.edu/2026-ne-cryo...
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
How has #evolution shaped Transcription Elongation Factors, important for #GeneExpression? This study by Alex Francette, Karen Arndt &co traces ten core factors to the last eukaryotic common ancestor, and shows they display both conserved and lineage-specific domains.
🧪#AcademicSky
plos.io/4eaCUTJ
🧪#AcademicSky
plos.io/4eaCUTJ
June 16, 2026 at 4:10 PM
How has #evolution shaped Transcription Elongation Factors, important for #GeneExpression? This study by Alex Francette, Karen Arndt &co traces ten core factors to the last eukaryotic common ancestor, and shows they display both conserved and lineage-specific domains.
🧪#AcademicSky
plos.io/4eaCUTJ
🧪#AcademicSky
plos.io/4eaCUTJ
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
(1/n) Very excited to share tri-lab collab (Mirny & Zechner) led by Harvey, Henrik & Jack:
Q: How do enhancers & promoters interact in space (contact vs. action-at-a-distance) and time (stable vs. transient)?
A: Transient E-P contact (~25-42 nm lasting ~10-20 sec):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Q: How do enhancers & promoters interact in space (contact vs. action-at-a-distance) and time (stable vs. transient)?
A: Transient E-P contact (~25-42 nm lasting ~10-20 sec):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
June 22, 2026 at 3:32 PM
(1/n) Very excited to share tri-lab collab (Mirny & Zechner) led by Harvey, Henrik & Jack:
Q: How do enhancers & promoters interact in space (contact vs. action-at-a-distance) and time (stable vs. transient)?
A: Transient E-P contact (~25-42 nm lasting ~10-20 sec):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Q: How do enhancers & promoters interact in space (contact vs. action-at-a-distance) and time (stable vs. transient)?
A: Transient E-P contact (~25-42 nm lasting ~10-20 sec):
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Very important paper from @andersshansen.bsky.social lab!
“…….integrating imaging, 3D genomics, and gene expression data across cell lines, we estimate that transcriptional activation is mediated by approximately 25-42 nanometer contacts on the seconds timescale. Our results support a transient contact mechanism for E-P-mediated gene activation.”
Live-cell imaging of enhancer-promoter dynamics reveals transient contact-driven gene activation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.21.733446v1
June 22, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Very important paper from @andersshansen.bsky.social lab!
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
“…….integrating imaging, 3D genomics, and gene expression data across cell lines, we estimate that transcriptional activation is mediated by approximately 25-42 nanometer contacts on the seconds timescale. Our results support a transient contact mechanism for E-P-mediated gene activation.”
Live-cell imaging of enhancer-promoter dynamics reveals transient contact-driven gene activation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.21.733446v1
June 22, 2026 at 6:07 AM
“…….integrating imaging, 3D genomics, and gene expression data across cell lines, we estimate that transcriptional activation is mediated by approximately 25-42 nanometer contacts on the seconds timescale. Our results support a transient contact mechanism for E-P-mediated gene activation.”
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
🚨 New preprint: GATO-seq did it again! ELOF1 is the missing promoter-proximal factor that confers RNA Pol II resistance to TFIIF. Including ELOF1, DSIF, and NELF in GATO-seq reactions recapitulates promoter-proximal pausing in vitro at physiological conditions for the 1st time.
tinyurl.com/ELOF1
tinyurl.com/ELOF1
May 29, 2026 at 1:07 PM
🚨 New preprint: GATO-seq did it again! ELOF1 is the missing promoter-proximal factor that confers RNA Pol II resistance to TFIIF. Including ELOF1, DSIF, and NELF in GATO-seq reactions recapitulates promoter-proximal pausing in vitro at physiological conditions for the 1st time.
tinyurl.com/ELOF1
tinyurl.com/ELOF1
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
⚡New preprint from the lab⚡: A key early checkpoint in gene expression is promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II. For over 20 years, we as field have not been able to recreate pausing under realistic cellular conditions. @robertovn.bsky.social shows that ELOF1 is the missing piece.
🚨 New preprint: GATO-seq did it again! ELOF1 is the missing promoter-proximal factor that confers RNA Pol II resistance to TFIIF. Including ELOF1, DSIF, and NELF in GATO-seq reactions recapitulates promoter-proximal pausing in vitro at physiological conditions for the 1st time.
tinyurl.com/ELOF1
tinyurl.com/ELOF1
May 29, 2026 at 5:36 PM
⚡New preprint from the lab⚡: A key early checkpoint in gene expression is promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II. For over 20 years, we as field have not been able to recreate pausing under realistic cellular conditions. @robertovn.bsky.social shows that ELOF1 is the missing piece.
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
📣 Preprint alert! We developed a method to analyze concurrent interactions between multiple chromatin regions at single alleles at sub-nucleosome resolution (multi-way Micro-Capture-C, mwMCC) & used this to study structural synergy within super-enhancers. 1/14
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
May 26, 2026 at 10:11 AM
📣 Preprint alert! We developed a method to analyze concurrent interactions between multiple chromatin regions at single alleles at sub-nucleosome resolution (multi-way Micro-Capture-C, mwMCC) & used this to study structural synergy within super-enhancers. 1/14
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
One, perhaps two, of our postdocs are moving on to faculty positions this year (more news soon!). While they're truly irreplaceable, it does mean that we have openings for new members to join our team studying #cilia. If interested, please apply: academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15526
May 22, 2026 at 4:43 PM
One, perhaps two, of our postdocs are moving on to faculty positions this year (more news soon!). While they're truly irreplaceable, it does mean that we have openings for new members to join our team studying #cilia. If interested, please apply: academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15526
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Out today - structure of the human HIRA histone chaperone complex bound to nucleosomes. Ever wondered how nucleosomes are assembled in the wake of transcription? It takes a 'hulk of a protein complex'. Work by the amazing Wei Tian weetian558.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵
May 18, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Out today - structure of the human HIRA histone chaperone complex bound to nucleosomes. Ever wondered how nucleosomes are assembled in the wake of transcription? It takes a 'hulk of a protein complex'. Work by the amazing Wei Tian weetian558.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Congratulations to Della Syau and the Farnung Lab @lucas.farnunglab.com on this outstanding work!
May 15, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Congratulations to Della Syau and the Farnung Lab @lucas.farnunglab.com on this outstanding work!
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
⭐ #NARBreakthrough! ⭐
New #cryo-EM study reveals how #transcription factor IWS1 promotes #RNApolII #elongation. Its C-terminus contains #modularmotifs that bind elongation components, stabilizing the complex. IWS1 also competes with #RECQL5 for Pol II binding.
📖 Read here: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
New #cryo-EM study reveals how #transcription factor IWS1 promotes #RNApolII #elongation. Its C-terminus contains #modularmotifs that bind elongation components, stabilizing the complex. IWS1 also competes with #RECQL5 for Pol II binding.
📖 Read here: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
May 15, 2026 at 2:39 PM
⭐ #NARBreakthrough! ⭐
New #cryo-EM study reveals how #transcription factor IWS1 promotes #RNApolII #elongation. Its C-terminus contains #modularmotifs that bind elongation components, stabilizing the complex. IWS1 also competes with #RECQL5 for Pol II binding.
📖 Read here: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
New #cryo-EM study reveals how #transcription factor IWS1 promotes #RNApolII #elongation. Its C-terminus contains #modularmotifs that bind elongation components, stabilizing the complex. IWS1 also competes with #RECQL5 for Pol II binding.
📖 Read here: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
Reposted by Lucas Farnung
Open q to the #cryoem crowd - what’s your fav NN/ML picker for hard SPA targets?
We use topaz with good results, but there have been a bazillion new pickers over the last years…
It is often hard to tell from the paper on each picker, as the training data matters a lot for topaz at least..
We use topaz with good results, but there have been a bazillion new pickers over the last years…
It is often hard to tell from the paper on each picker, as the training data matters a lot for topaz at least..
May 15, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Open q to the #cryoem crowd - what’s your fav NN/ML picker for hard SPA targets?
We use topaz with good results, but there have been a bazillion new pickers over the last years…
It is often hard to tell from the paper on each picker, as the training data matters a lot for topaz at least..
We use topaz with good results, but there have been a bazillion new pickers over the last years…
It is often hard to tell from the paper on each picker, as the training data matters a lot for topaz at least..
Excited that Della Syau's PhD work is now available as a NAR Breakthrough article: academic.oup.com/nar/article/....
Della's work clarifies how IWS1 engages the transcription elongation complex, stimulates transcription, and controls association of other factors such as RECQL5.
Della's work clarifies how IWS1 engages the transcription elongation complex, stimulates transcription, and controls association of other factors such as RECQL5.
Structure and function of IWS1 in transcription elongation
Abstract. Transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II is a tightly regulated process that requires coordinated interactions between transcription elongat
academic.oup.com
May 15, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Excited that Della Syau's PhD work is now available as a NAR Breakthrough article: academic.oup.com/nar/article/....
Della's work clarifies how IWS1 engages the transcription elongation complex, stimulates transcription, and controls association of other factors such as RECQL5.
Della's work clarifies how IWS1 engages the transcription elongation complex, stimulates transcription, and controls association of other factors such as RECQL5.
The Farnung Lab is looking for postdoctoral researchers interested in understanding mechanisms at the intersection of chromatin, transcription, and replication.
Find out more here: www.farnunglab.com
Find out more here: www.farnunglab.com
Contact — Farnung Lab
www.farnunglab.com
May 8, 2026 at 5:02 PM
The Farnung Lab is looking for postdoctoral researchers interested in understanding mechanisms at the intersection of chromatin, transcription, and replication.
Find out more here: www.farnunglab.com
Find out more here: www.farnunglab.com
BenchOS.ai just received an update. Check out the feature section to see what you ca do with BenchOS.
BenchOS - An Operating System for Molecular and Structural Biology
A lab operating system and AI agent for structured molecular and structural biology workflows.
BenchOS.ai
May 8, 2026 at 6:29 AM
BenchOS.ai just received an update. Check out the feature section to see what you ca do with BenchOS.