Bokai Zhu lab@LabZhu

The Zhu lab studies the moon/tide-related 12h ultradian clock; xbp1, proteostasis, epigenetic, metabolism, aging, stress response are the key words. @AgingPitt

 Aging Institute, Divison of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine,Univeristy of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
bzhulab.com/
Joined June 2018
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It is a great pleasure to share our most recent work on ‘rejuvenating’ nuclear speckles to ameliorate proteinopaties such as Tauopathy and retinitis pigmentosa. It is my first publication that is not related to biological rhythms and I am very excited to nature.com/articles/s41467-0…

SON-dependent nuclear speckle rehabilitation alleviates proteinopathies

Nature Communications - Here the authors show that rehabilitating nuclear speckles, membraneless organelles involved in mRNA processing and gene regulation, can boost protein quality control and...

nature.com
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What if a tiny nuclear structure helps determine whether neurons survive or degenerate? Our new Trends in Neurosciences review explores how nuclear speckles—dynamic nuclear condensates once thought to be passive splicing hubs—coordinate RNA metabolism, stress responses,
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and proteostasis, and how their dysfunction contributes to ALS/FTD and tauopathies. Great collaboration with Xu Chen, and thanks to editor Moran Furman for his guidance. authors.elsevier.com/a/1mjZR… #Neurodegeneration #RNAbiology #BiomolecularCondensates #Proteostasis #ALS #Tauopathy
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and how their dysfunction contributes to ALS/FTD and tauopathies
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Hepatic metabolic functions follow a 12-hour cycle rather than a 24-hour cycle, significantly contributing to the liver’s ability to meet nutrient demands throughout the day! link.springer.com/article/10…

Modeling the dynamics of hepatic metabolism: the predominance of 12-hour rhythmicity in metabolic...

Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences - The liver continuously adjusts its metabolic activity to synchronize the nutrient supply with the body’s demands. This synchronization involves the...

link.springer.com
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This is consistent with our own work on the importance of 12h ultradian rhythms in liver function.
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I am so sad to hear the passing of Dr. Bert O’Malley today. He has been a great mentor for me and has always been my inspiration for pursuing science. The world has lost a great scientist and mentor today.
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Bokai Zhu lab retweeted
Salma Kaochar
@Kaochar2
11 Nov 2025
Sadden to hear the passing of Dr. Bert O’Malley, the father of molecular endocrinology, a long-time mentor, and friend.
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Pyrvinium as a nuclear speckle rejuvenator independently validated in a new study. SWING domains prime chromatin for nuclear body–mediated gene regulation biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…

SWING domains prime chromatin for nuclear body–mediated gene regulation

Nuclear speckles have long been recognized as RNA-rich nuclear bodies, yet their role in genome organization and gene regulation remains incompletely understood. Using a rapid dTAG-mediated degrada...

biorxiv.org
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Glad to see this paper finally out. It was a fascinating story when it first came out as a preprint a few years back.
ShorterLab@ShorterLab
24 Sep 2025
Collective homeostasis of condensation-prone proteins via their mRNAs: nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
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Bokai Zhu lab retweeted
ShorterLab@ShorterLab
24 Sep 2025
Collective homeostasis of condensation-prone proteins via their mRNAs: nature.com/articles/s41586-0…

Collective homeostasis of condensation-prone proteins via their mRNAs

Nature - The authors discover a homeostatic process termed interstasis, in which an increased concentration of proteins within RNA–protein condensates induces the sequestration of their own...

nature.com
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Aydogan Lab@AydoganLab
25 Aug 2025
#Postdoc opportunity at Columbia U. in New York! We are interested in candidates from biochemistry backgr. & excited about fractionation, purification and reconstitution to study autonomous clocks in the cell cycle, in colab. w/ @Aydinlab at NYU! hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/E…
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GraphVelo allows for accurate inference of multimodal velocities and molecular mechanisms for single cells | Nature Communications nature.com/articles/s41467-0…

GraphVelo allows for accurate inference of multimodal velocities and molecular mechanisms for...

Nature Communications - RNA velocity offers insight into cell dynamics but faces key limitations across modalities. Here, authors present GraphVelo, a machine learning framework that refines and...

nature.com
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Bokai Zhu lab retweeted
Cell Biology J-Club@cell_club
21 Aug 2025
LYVAC/PDZD8 is a lysosomal vacuolator | Science science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…

LYVAC/PDZD8 is a lysosomal vacuolator

Lysosomal vacuolation is commonly found in many pathophysiological conditions, but its molecular mechanisms and functions remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–a...

science.org
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Bokai Zhu lab retweeted
Qi Chen
@qichen_lab
20 Aug 2025
Perhaps our boldest hypothesis… we propose a model for RNA Structural Memory propagation @NatureCellBio, where RNA conformation is reshaped by stress, locked by RBPs, copied prion-like in condensates & passed across generations—all without altering DNA.🧵 rdcu.be/eBwPJ
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I completely agree.
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ShorterLab@ShorterLab
13 Aug 2025
A multichaperone condensate enhances protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum: nature.com/articles/s41556-0…

A multichaperone condensate enhances protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum

Nature Cell Biology - Leder et al. show that the chaperones PDIA6, Hsp70 BiP, ERdj3, PDIA1 and Hsp90 form co-condensates within the endoplasmic reticulum, enhancing folding and preventing...

nature.com
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Bokai Zhu lab retweeted
Xu Chen, PhD@xuashleychen1
12 Aug 2025
Antiparasitic Drug Shows Power Against Alzheimer’s and Dementia today.ucsd.edu/story/antipar…

Antiparasitic Drug Shows Power Against Alzheimer’s and Dementia

UC San Diego researchers have helped discover that a drug used to treat pinworms, can be repurposed to rejuvenate cellular structures and potentially treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's...

today.ucsd.edu
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Bokai Zhu lab retweeted
Junjie Guo 郭俊傑@guo_lab
11 Aug 2025
Excited to see the work by @Yale_INP students Suzhou Yang @Denethi_W w/ collabs @YaleNeuro iPSC core @jdpereira @ArabTanina and @MayoClinicNeuro @gendron_tania @NeuroUdit on #C9orf72 #ALS & #FTD finally out in @NatureNeuro! @WuTsaiYale @KavliAtYale nature.com/articles/s41593-0…

Aberrant splicing exonizes C9orf72 repeat expansion in ALS/FTD

Nature Neuroscience - By selectively isolating and sequencing the rare RNA transcripts containing C9orf72 repeat expansion from ALS–FTD neurons, the authors uncover an alternative splicing...

nature.com
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Nuclear speckle rejuvenation “next frontier” for treating neurodegeneration, via @EurekAlert! eurekalert.org/news-releases…

Nuclear speckle rejuvenation “next frontier” for treating neurodegeneration

Targeting cellular structures called nuclear speckles could be a completely new approach for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases, according to new research led by the University of...

eurekalert.org
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A news article on our work. Nuclear Speckle Rejuvenation “Next Frontier” for Treating Neurodegeneration - UPMC & Pitt Health Sciences News Blog inside.upmc.com/nuclear-spec…

Nuclear Speckle Rejuvenation “Next Frontier” for Treating Neurodegeneration - UPMC & Pitt Health...

Targeting cellular structures called nuclear speckles could be a completely… Read more

inside.upmc.com
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