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Belen Pachano

@belenpachano

MSCA postdoctoral researcher studying Trypanosoma in the Siegel lab 🧬 From πŸ‡¦πŸ‡· β†’ πŸ‡«πŸ‡· β†’ πŸ‡©πŸ‡ͺ

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13.04.2025
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Latest posts by Belen Pachano @belenpachano

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European MSCA Fellowship Supports Research in the Siegel Lab Dr BelΓ©n Pachano, postdoctoral researcher in the Siegel Lab, has been awarded the prestigious European Marie SkΕ‚odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship.

πŸ‘ @belenpachano.bsky.social from @siegel-lab.bsky.social has been awarded the Marie SkΕ‚odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowship @ec.europa.eu . πŸ‘

She investigates how #pathogens evade the #host #immune #system through #antigenic #variation.

➑️ www.med.lmu.de/bmc/en/news/...

πŸ“Έ: Siegel Lab

05.03.2026 13:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

πŸ₯³ I still can’t quite believe this is real: I’ve been awarded a Marie SkΕ‚odowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (#MSCA) with a 100% evaluation score.

Excited for what’s ahead at @lmu.de (@bmc-lmu.bsky.social) in the @siegel-lab.bsky.social ✨

11.02.2026 10:20 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Structural and functional characterization of TgGSK3, a druggable kinase in Toxoplasma gondii - Nature Communications Researchers identify the cancer drug LY2090314 as a potent inhibitor of Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium and report the first crystal structure of the parasite kinase TgGSK3 bound to it, validati...

Nature Com. now live! πŸŽ‰ Silvia’s amazing PhD supervised by Alex β€œthe Greatest” & Christopher’s big-bang contribution. Huge thanks to our stellar team & collaborators. We went fishing in the FDA pond and hooked LY2090314 🎣 Blocks GSK3 🎯in #Toxoplasma & #Crypto

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

05.11.2025 15:24 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Closing 4 wonderful years of PhD in the ParaFrap & EMBO Workshop in a beautiful french island. Thank you @hakimi.bsky.social and @parafrap.bsky.social for this wonderful learning journey πŸ’•

13.10.2025 10:12 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Hydra domain drives SNF2L multimerization and marks ISWI diversification in parasites ISWI chromatin remodelers are conserved regulators of nucleosome positioning and chromatin accessibility across eukaryotes, yet their evolutionary diversification is poorly understood. In the apicompl...

I’m excited to share our new preprint!

We’ve been investigating a specific domain in TgSNF2L that forms decamers in vitro. Every time we attempted to break them apart, they just snapped back together. That tenacity earned it the nickname Hydra. πŸ‰

πŸ”— www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

06.09.2025 09:48 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Zeus had his Hydra βš”οΈ, now Toxoplasma has its own.

Meet Hydra: not a monster, but a brand-new protein domain.
It multimerizes like crazy & rewrites the chromatin landscape 🧬 in Toxoplasma.

Our team and colleagues from @embl.org #Grenoble just dropped the preprint πŸ‘‰
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

06.09.2025 09:03 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Decoding the epigenetic blueprint behind Toxoplasma (pre)sexual commitment and chronic persistence Toxoplasma gondii, a widespread apicomplexan parasite, navigates a complex life cycle in which it switches back and forth between tachyzoites and brad…

Thrilled to share our latest review! πŸŽ‰ It captures the ideas and discussions that have shaped our work in recent years. Big shoutout to the amazing authors πŸ‘ @hakimi.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

30.08.2025 13:24 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you for providing me an amazing environment to learn and work. I could not have asked for a better mentor!

25.07.2025 10:22 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Uncovering biomarkers for chronic toxoplasmosis detection highlights alternative pathways shaping parasite dormancy | EMBO Molecular Medicine imageimageDespite their clinical relevance, bradyzoite-filled cysts - the hallmark of chronic toxoplasmosis - are largely overlooked in current diagnostics. This study highlights bradyzoite serologica...

Glad to have contributed to this amazing work out now in
@embomolmed.org ! πŸŽ‰ Big shoutout to Marie G. Robert & Christopher Swale and @hakimi.bsky.social !

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

19.05.2025 12:21 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Uncovering biomarkers for chronic toxoplasmosis detection highlights alternative pathways shaping parasite dormancy | EMBO Molecular Medicine imageimageDespite their clinical relevance, bradyzoite-filled cysts - the hallmark of chronic toxoplasmosis - are largely overlooked in current diagnostics. This study highlights bradyzoite serologica...

🧡 Ever wondered what Toxoplasma is doing in your brain years after that undercooked steak πŸ₯© or a sip of contaminated water? Turns out, it's been hiding in your brain 🧠and we finally have a way to spot it. New study just dropped in EMBO Molecular Medicine πŸ‘‡
doi.org/10.1038/s443...

19.05.2025 10:31 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in Toxoplasma gondii - Nature Microbiology Toxoplasma gondii evolved two ISWI remodellers, TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. TgSNF2h forms a complex that insulates active genes, regulates MORC-driven sexual commitment and ensures precise gene expression, s...

An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in #Toxoplasma gondii. By Belen Pachano (ParaFrap PhD student) et al., team @hakimi.bsky.social. In @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

22.04.2025 14:39 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching

Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching

"To make sense of this genomic jungle, the parasite relies on an extra layer of regulation to ensure precise gene activation at the right time and in the right place"

go.nature.com/3RJNMfb

13.04.2025 11:12 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in Toxoplasma gondii - Nature Microbiology Toxoplasma gondii evolved two ISWI remodellers, TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. TgSNF2h forms a complex that insulates active genes, regulates MORC-driven sexual commitment and ensures precise gene expression, s...

Thrilled to share my first paper, now out in
@natmicrobiol.nature.com! Huge thanks to my amazing supervisor @hakimi.bsky.social and everyone who contributed to this work!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

13.04.2025 11:03 πŸ‘ 42 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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An ISWI-related chromatin remodeller regulates stage-specific gene expression in Toxoplasma gondii Nature Microbiology - Toxoplasma gondii evolved two ISWI remodellers, TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. TgSNF2h forms a complex that insulates active genes, regulates MORC-driven sexual commitment and ensures...

In the silence of chromatin, Toxoplasma whispers change.
TgSNF2h sculpts the genome - MORC in the backseat.
Some genes wake. Others sleep.
A dance of nucleosomes shaping space for life parasite stages to unfold.

Now in Nature Microbiology:
rdcu.be/ehkWp

11.04.2025 11:07 πŸ‘ 55 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 0
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Open Sesame: The Protein Behind Parasite Stage Switching

A humorous reflection on the first article from my stellar PhD student, Belen Pachano.

communities.springernature.com/posts/open-s...

11.04.2025 14:59 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0