Guardians of the Proteome: How Ribosome Interactions Shape Cellular Resilience
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, USA
@CECAD Research Center, Lecture Hall (ground floor)
Host: Dr. Ina Huppertz, Max-Planck-Institute for Biology of Ageing
ABSTRACT
Once viewed as simple protein factories, ribosomes are now recognized as regulatory hubs that sense and respond to cellular stress. My lab investigates how ribosome-associated networks are rewired during viral infection and neurodegeneration, revealing molecular control points that determine whether cells adapt or die. Using mass spectrometry, ribosome profiling and stem cell-derived models, we uncover how co-translational processes preserve proteome integrity and how their disruption drives disease.
ABOUT DR. AVINER
Dr. Ranen Aviner is Group Leader at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub in San Francisco, where he directs an independent research program focused on therapeutic targets in neurotropic virus infections and Huntington’s disease using iPSC-derived cellular models. His lab integrates RNA biology, mass spectrometry, and advanced imaging to investigate how viruses and molecular dysfunctions disrupt protein synthesis and contribute to neurodegeneration. Dr. Aviner earned his PhD in Molecular Biology from Tel Aviv University, where he pioneered proteomic methods to track newly synthesized proteins and uncovered cancer-associated dysregulation of translation during cell division. His postdoctoral work at Stanford and UCSF, supported by EMBO, HFSP, and Rothschild fellowships, led to the development of tools for studying virus-induced remodeling of host translation and the identification of druggable cellular enzymes that inhibit infection. At CZ Biohub, Dr. Aviner has built and mentored a multidisciplinary team and continues to explore the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases. His recent discoveries include a novel pathway underlying Huntington’s disease involving toxic ribosome collisions, with implications for RNA-based therapeutic strategies. Dr. Aviner’s research bridges fundamental molecular biology and translational medicine, offering new insights into viral-host interactions, ribosome function, and the cellular mechanisms driving neurodegeneration.