M. C. Leake

A promiscuous mechanism to phase separate eukaryotic carbon fixation in the green lineage

The paper identifies a conserved linker protein from Chlorella that can phase separate Rubisco in Chlamydomonas and some plants, enabling cross-species pyrenoid formation.

Multifunctional polymerization domains determine the onset of epigenetic silencing in Arabidopsis

This study investigates the role of VIN3 and VRN5 VEL polymerization domains in cold-induced epigenetic silencing of FLC in Arabidopsis, showing distinct functional contributions.

iPAR: a new reporter for eukaryotic cytoplasmic protein aggregation

The paper introduces iPAR, a fluorescent reporter for studying cytoplasmic protein aggregation in yeast, showing aggregates are mobile and not inherited by daughter cells.

Correlating fluorescence microscopy, optical and magnetic tweezers to study single chiral biopolymers such as DNA

The paper introduces COMBI-Tweez, a tool combining optical and magnetic tweezers with fluorescence microscopy to study the structural dynamics of single chiral biopolymers like DNA under mechanical forces.

Multiple Intermediates in the Detergent-Induced Fusion of Lipid Vesicles

This study identifies multiple intermediates in detergent-induced vesicle fusion using FRET and single-vesicle analysis, revealing a multi-step mechanism involving permeabilization, docking, hemi-fusion, and lipid mixing.

Correlating viscosity and molecular crowding with fluorescent nanobeads and molecular probes: in vitro and in vivo

The paper investigates intracellular viscosity and molecular crowding using fluorescent nanobeads and molecular probes in vitro and in live yeast cells.

Sensitive bacterial Vm sensors revealed the excitability of bacterial Vm and its role in antibiotic tolerance

The paper develops bacterial Vm sensors to study Vm dynamics and shows that excitable states enhance antibiotic tolerance.

Crowding induced morphological changes in synthetic lipid vesicles determined using smFRET

This study investigates how molecular crowding affects synthetic lipid vesicle morphology using smFRET and other techniques, finding that crowding induces compaction with varying reversibility depending on the crowder type.

Single-molecule and super-resolved imaging deciphers membrane behaviour of onco-immunogenic CCR5.

This study uses advanced imaging techniques to analyze the spatial organization and molecular composition of CCR5 in cancer cells, revealing non-random clustering and dimeric sub-units.

Structural interplay between DNA-shape proteinrecognition and supercoiling: the case of IHF

This study reveals how IHF interacts with supercoiled DNA through molecular dynamics simulations, showing IHF's role in modulating superhelical stress and organizing DNA topology.

Tween-20 induces the structural remodelling of single lipid vesicles

This study investigates how Tween-20 interacts with lipid vesicles, revealing stepwise structural changes even below critical micellar concentration.

RecA and RecB: probing complexes of DNA repair proteins with mitomycin C in live Escherichia coli with single-molecule sensitivity

This study uses super-resolved fluorescence microscopy to analyze RecA and RecB dynamics in live E. coli under DNA damage, revealing their spatial organization and stoichiometry changes.

Investigating molecular crowding during cell division in budding yeast with FRET

This study quantifies molecular crowding during budding yeast cell division using FRET sensors and microscopy, revealing crowding hotspots in daughter cells and potential mechanisms involving inherited organelles.

Membraneless organelles formed by liquid-liquid phase separation increase bacterial fitness

The paper identifies membraneless organelles in bacteria that enhance stress tolerance through liquid-liquid phase separation.

PySTACHIO: Python Single-molecule TrAcking stoiCHiometry Intensity and simulatiOn, a flexible, extensible, beginner-friendly and optimized program for analysis of single-molecule microscopy

The paper introduces PySTACHIO, a Python program for single-molecule microscopy analysis that offers improved performance, flexibility, and accessibility compared to existing tools.

Tetrameric UvrD helicase is located at the E. coli replisome due to frequent replication blocks

The paper shows UvrD forms tetramers and associates with replication forks due to frequent nucleoprotein blocks, distinct from Rep's recruitment mechanism.

Combining single-molecule super-resolved localization microscopy with fluorescence polarization imaging to study cellular processes

This paper combines single-molecule super-resolved localization microscopy with fluorescence polarization imaging to simultaneously measure spatial location, molecular stoichiometry, and diffusion coefficients of tracked molecular complexes.

The Mechanism of Vesicle Solubilization by the Detergent Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

This study investigates the molecular dynamics of vesicle solubilization by SDS using advanced biophysical methods, revealing biphasic kinetics involving vesicle expansion and rapid lipid loss.

Single-molecule FRET dynamics of molecular motors in an ABEL Trap

This paper demonstrates the use of ABEL traps for extended smFRET measurements of the molecular motor Rep, capturing conformational changes with sub-millisecond resolution.

Molecular crowding in single eukaryotic cells: using cell environment biosensing and single-molecule optical microscopy to probe dependence on extracellular ionic strength, local glucose conditions, and sensor copy number

This study uses FRET biosensing and microscopy to measure molecular crowding in yeast cells under varying glucose and ionic conditions, revealing uniform cytosolic crowding and sensor copy number dependencies.

Correlative single-molecule fluorescence barcoding of gene regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The paper uses single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to observe Mig1 transcription factor foci in yeast and correlates their patterns with growth characteristics under different carbon sources.

Integration host factor bends and bridges DNA in a multiplicity of binding modes with varying specificity

The paper shows IHF binds DNA in three distinct modes with varying specificity, enabling DNA compaction and structural organization.

Correlating single-molecule characteristics of the yeast aquaglyceroporin Fps1 with environmental perturbations directly in living cells

The paper tracks single-molecule characteristics of the yeast aquaglyceroporin Fps1 in real time under varying environmental conditions using super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.

A glucose starvation response governs endocytic trafficking and eisosomal retention of surface cargoes

The paper shows glucose starvation in yeast increases internalization of surface cargoes while suppressing their recycling, and upregulates eisosomal factors to aid nutrient uptake recovery.

SerraNA: a program to determine nucleic acids elasticity from simulation data

SerraNA calculates elastic parameters of nucleic acids from simulation data, revealing sequence-dependent elasticity and global bendability from local bending angles.

Biophysical characterization of DNA origami nanostructures reveals inaccessibility to intercalation binding sites

The paper investigates intercalation binding site accessibility in DNA origami nanostructures using biophysical methods and finds that not all sites are accessible for dye intercalation.

Unveiling the multi-step solubilization mechanism of single vesicles by detergents.

This study uses svFRET to reveal the biphasic solubilization kinetics of vesicles by detergents, identifying an initial fast swelling step followed by slow lipid loss and micellization.

Single-organelle quantification reveals the stoichiometric and structural variability of carboxysomes dependent on the environment

The paper determines the absolute protein stoichiometry of carboxysomes and reveals their organizational variability in response to microenvironmental changes.

Targeting the trypanosome kinetochore with CLK1 protein kinase inhibitors

This study identifies CLK1 as a novel drug target in Trypanosoma brucei by showing its essential role in kinetochore function and cell survival through kinase inhibition.

Staphylococcus aureus toxin LukSF dissociates from its membrane receptor target to enable renewed ligand sequestration

The paper shows Staphylococcus aureus toxin LukSF dissociates from its receptor to allow renewed ligand binding, facilitating rapid cell lysis and immune evasion.