This study shows human coronavirus HKU1 replicates more efficiently at nasal temperature (33°C) than at body temperature (37°C), with differences in innate immune response and viral stability.

Nature Communications · Jul 27, 2026Peer-reviewedMicrobiology

Post-translational acylation drives folding and activity of the CyaA bacterial toxin.

Corentin C. Leger, Samuel Hoff, Gaia Scilironi, Amiel Abettan, Roshan Shrestha, Jacinthe Frangieh, Vincent Deruelle, Nicolas Carvalho, Dorothée Raoux‐Barbot, Nathalie Duclert‐Savatier, Benjamin Bardiaux, Sébastien Brier, François Bontems, Gérard Pehau‐Arnaudet, Daniel Ladant, , Alexandre Chenal

This study shows that acylation stabilizes the native fold of CyaA and facilitates its membrane orientation, revealing how post-translational modification drives toxin activity.

bioRxiv · Sep 11, 2025 · PreprintBiophysics

TYPE THREE SECRETION SYSTEM-INDUCED MECHANOPORATION OF VACUOLAR MEMBRANES

Léa Swistak, Marvin Albert, Camila Valenzuela, Elif Begüm Gökerküçük, François Bontems, Stéphane Tachon, Keith T. Egger, Anastasia D. Gazi, Anna Sartori-Rupp, Cammie F. Lesser, Perrine Paul‐Gilloteaux, Jean-Yves Tinévez, Matthijn R. J. Vos, Jost Enninga

This study identifies mechanoporation via the Type Three Secretion System as a mechanism by which Shigella flexneri breaches vacuolar membranes to access the cytosol.

PLoS Biology · May 1, 2025Peer-reviewedMicrobiology

An original potentiating mechanism revealed by the cryoEM structures of the human α7 nicotinic receptor in complex with nanobodies

Marie S. Prevost, Nathalie Barilone, Gabrielle Dejean de la Bâtie, Stéphanie Pons, Gabriel Aymé, Patrick England, Marc C. Gielen, François Bontems, Gérard Pehau‐Arnaudet, Uwe Maskos, Pierre J. Lafaye, Pierre‐Jean Corringer

The paper solves cryo-EM structures of human α7 nicotinic receptor nanobody complexes, revealing E3's mechanism of inducing active or desensitized conformations through a N-linked sugar moiety.

Nature Communications · Sep 25, 2023Peer-reviewedNeuroscience