B. E. Black

Centromeric chromatin clearings demarcate the site of kinetochore formation

The paper uses cryo-ET to reveal the architecture of centromeric chromatin clearings and their role in kinetochore formation and amplification.

Native ultrastructure of fresh human brain vitrified directly from autopsy revealed by cryo-electron tomography with cryo-plasma focused ion beam milling

This paper presents a method to image unfixed, never frozen human brain tissue using cryo-ET with xenon plasma FIB milling, revealing native ultrastructures like myelin and autophagy components.

Structural Basis for the Phase Separation of the Chromosome Passenger Complex

The paper identifies contact regions in the chromosome passenger complex (CPC) that drive phase separation using hydrogen/deuterium-exchange mass spectrometry.

Centromere-specifying nucleosomes persist in aging mouse oocytes in the absence of nascent assembly

This study shows that centromere-specifying nucleosomes persist in aging mouse oocytes without new assembly during prolonged prophase I arrest.

The structural basis of the multi-step allosteric activation of Aurora B kinase

This study investigates how phosphorylation in Aurora B and IN-box activates the [Aurora B/IN-box] complex through molecular dynamics and structural analysis.

Molecular basis of UHRF1 allosteric activation for synergistic histone modification binding by PI5P

This study identifies how PI5P allosterically activates UHRF1 to synergistically bind H3unmodified and H3K9me3 histone marks through conformational changes.

HPF1 dynamically controls the PARP1/2 balance between initiating and elongating ADPribose modifications

This study shows HPF1 regulates PARP1/2 to balance initiation and elongation of ADP-ribose modifications, ensuring efficient serine modification during DNA damage response.

Reconstitution of human kinetochore in mitotic cell extracts reveals permitted and restricted assembly steps

Hydrogen-deuterium exchange coupled to top- and middle-down mass spectrometry enables high-resolution measurements of histone tail dynamics before and after nucleosome assembly

This paper uses HDX-MS/MS with ETD to study histone tail dynamics before and after nucleosome assembly, achieving high-resolution deuterium localization.