Our top 10 Discoveries

1. Specialized ribosomes in development
Kondrashov et al., Cell (2011)
Ribosomal protein composition selectively regulates translation of specific mRNAs during vertebrate development, introducing the concept that ribosomes can regulate gene expression.

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2. Translational control of developmental signaling networks
Fujii et al., Nature Communications (2017)
Pervasive translational regulation of the cell signalling circuitry underlies mammalian development
Established that translational regulation broadly shapes developmental signaling pathways.

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3. Ribosomes are compositionally distinct
Simsek et al., Cell (2017)

Rothschild et al., Cell Genomics (2024)
Provided biochemical evidence that mammalian ribosomes differ in composition.

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4. Distinct ribosomes selectively translate distinct mRNAs
Shi et al., Molecular Cell (2017)
Demonstrated that heterogeneous ribosomes preferentially translate specific subsets of mRNAs.

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5. Translational control shapes developmental cell states
Tiu et al., Developmental Cell (2021)
Showed that selective translational regulation governs developmental programs and cell-state transitions.

 

6. rRNA expansion segments as regulatory platforms
Fujii et al., Molecular Cell (2018)
Revealed that rRNA expansion segments recruit regulatory factors and actively modulate translation.

 

7.Molecular rules of selective translation
Leppek et al., Molecular Cell (2018)
Defined mechanisms by which ribosome-associated features and mRNA elements control selective translation.

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8. Subcellular spatial organization and composition of ribosomes in cells (2025) 
Zhang et al., Science (2026)
Introduced approaches to visualize ribosomal subunits and translation complexes in cells.

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9. Translation remodeling in tissue regeneration (2024)

Zhulyn et al., Nature (2023)
Axolotl regeneration work
Linked ribosome remodeling and translational control to regenerative biology.

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10. Technologies to dissect ribosome heterogeneity
RiboExM, ALIBi, VELCRO, ICM2, RAPIDASH, RiboRT, Ribo-Tweezer
Developed tools enabling molecular, spatial, and functional dissection of ribosome diversity.

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For a Full List of our Pubications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=maria+barna&sort=pubdate

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