Our innovation:

• We developed the human in vitro screening platform for translation inhibitors.
• Using this platform, we identified NT-2, a toxic mycotoxin produced by crop-infecting fungi, as a potent inhibitor of eukaryotic translation.
• Cryo-electron microscopy revealed that NT-2 binds the peptidyl transferase center of human ribosomes and is associated with ribosome dormancy factors, suggesting that it can push ribosomes into an inactive "sleeping" state.

The project was developed in the group of PD Dr. Evangelos Karousis.

References:

• N. Schwaller, D. Andenmatten, J. Luginbühl, J. Rabl, H. Baur, M. Chambon, J. Vesin, G. Turcatti, E. D. Karousis;
  "A human cell-free translation screen identifies the NT-2 mycotoxin as a ribosomal inhibitor that binds the peptidyl transferase center"
  bioRxiv, 2025.10.11.680285, (preprint); doi:10.1101/2025.10.11.680285.