Ribodorm Project
Ribosome hibernation during cell dormancy
A new research stream in our lab aims to uncover how ribosomes, the cellular protein factories, are shut down during cell dormancy.
We call this process ribosome hibernation.
About the Ribodorm project
In a new project funded by the BBSRC and Leverhulme Trust, we study how ribosomes are switched off when cells become dormant, and how they reactivate when cells "awaken" from dormancy.
To understand cell dormancy and ribosome hibernation across scales, we employ a multimodal approach: We combine omics, confocal microscopy, X-ray tomography, cryo-electron tomography, and cryo-electron microscopy to study these processes from cells to atoms.
To elucidate how ribosome hibernation evolved in eukaryotes, we follow a cross-species approach, comparing mammals, fungi, and plants.
Meet The Team
Gayatri Mundhe
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Will Stuart
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Vasanthakrishnan Radhakrishnan Balasubramaniam
Postdoc
Maddie Vincent
PhD student
Yuna Liao
PhD student
Harrison Tilling
Master student
Weronika Wrzesniak
Master student
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Ben Underhill
Master student
Publications
New clues about ribosome hibernation in microsporidia revealed by cryo-electron tomography
McLaren M, Conners R, Isupov MN, Gold VAM, Williams B & Daum B (2025) BioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.26.670498
CryoEM reveals that ribosomes in microsporidian spores are locked in a dimeric hibernating state
McLaren M, Conners R, Isupov MN, Gil-Díez P, Gambelli L, Gold VAM, Walter A, Connell SR, Williams B & Daum B (2023)Nature Microbiology. 8, 1834–1845 doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01469-w
Funders of the Ribodorm Project
