The molecular basis of tricalbin-mediated membrane contact site organization in cells url: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article-...
Posts by Vanni Lab at UNIFR, Switzerland
We offer a PostDoc position for a fully funded project on lipid-encoded #lipidtime protein quality-control checkpoints at the Golgi: great collaborators, excellent working & living conditions & benchspace with a view ;) Please share and repost!
Overall, we provide a molecular view of how the interplay between oligomerization, subcellular localization and substrate biophysical properties modulate protein activity, highlighting that during enzymatic lipid remodelling, lipids play important regulatory roles beyond being just substrates. (3/3)
We found that each DGAT1 subunit binds multiple diacylglycerol (DAG) molecules, and that DAG promotes the formation of high-order DGAT1 oligomers. Further, DGAT1 generates membrane curvature in silico, and it preferentially localizes in the ER tubular network when ER DAG levels increase (2/3).
Happy to share our latest work where @Jennifersapia.bsky.social teamed up with @veijosalo.bsky.social and Xuewu Sui from @tamu.bsky.social to combine simulations and experiments to investigate DGAT1-dependent triglyceride synthesis, revealing more roles for DAG than previously known….(1/3)
Wee thread 🧵⬇️ on our new #glycotime with @siglecdude.bsky.social John Klassen and @glycocode.bsky.social 🥳 where we show Siglecs as molecular precision tools, able to recognise sialylated glycans with surgical precision in their natural environment, not bad for a lectin! 😎
doi.org/10.1038/s420...
I just made an account and voted for this biology laboratory made of LEGO to "promote biological research and inspire more people into the world of biology". They need 10K votes. Reposting and/or voting below would be helpful. 🤗
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
Congratulations @olzmannlab.bsky.social @arrudalab.bsky.social! Really outstanding and important work!
Amazing PhD @cristianrocharoa.bsky.social
and I have collected our thoughts and questions (many!) on lipid scramblases in this review:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you are interested in lipid transport and metabolism, membrane asymmetry and membrane protein function, give it a read!
New preprint from the lab together with @labvanni.bsky.social. We looked what happens to ER generated free very long chain fatty acids.. VLCFAs are partionig into lipid droplets and are extracted from the hydrophobic core by Fat1.
www.biorxiv.org/content/bior...
PhD positions in my lab (AI for Science), but with special preference for people who complement our current activities or are enthusiastic about contributing to our on going work. Looking for technically strong, independent and proactive candidates. www.chalmers.se/en/about-cha...
Please REPOST (“likes” don’t help in diffusion!) and consider applying: we work in such a fantastic context, we ask so interesting questions, and we have such a collegial and best-willing atmosphere… CRBM = Happy & Good Science
Please share!!! I am looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join us. Focus will be on exciting collaborative projects on lipids and membrane biology, pushing the boundaries of in silico "reconstitutions". Previous experience with molecular dynamics simulations of biological systems a strong plus!
We have several Master’s thesis projects available in the D’Angelo lab, spanning different areas of lipid biology/biochemistry. If you know someone who might be interested, we’d really appreciate you sharing this. #lipidtime
www.epfl.ch/labs/dangelo...
Please share🙏:
Our lab opens 2 PhD positions to investigate fungi's evolution: #Barcelona
Wet lab in Biochemistry/Structural Biology of cryo-tolerant fungi
www.upf.edu/documents/d/...
Computational in Physical Chemistry of cellular processes under extrem environments
www.upf.edu/documents/d/...
New preprint from the lab! Triglycerides act like salt on ice: they solubilize cholesterol esters and drive lipid droplet growth. The TG/CE ratio shapes both droplet size and proteome, mirroring lipoprotein organization.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The work by @danialv.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org with a few changes after peer-review. Have a look if you are interested in lipid transport by bridge lipid transfer proteins (BLTPs)...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Thanks André!
Finally, big congrats to all authors, including collaborators from the @pdc-lab.bsky.social, and thanks to @snsf.ch and @erc.europa.eu for funding this research line in my lab. Looking forward to your comments and feedback! (7/7)
Finally, @danialv.bsky.social used CG simulations to show that VPS13A can deliver lipids to an acceptor membrane that is bound at the C-terminal of VPS13A, and that XKR1 is proximal, but not continuous, to the delivery site. (6/7)
But how does VPS13A contact the lipid bilayer? Using a combination of coarse-grained (CG) MD simulation and in vitro flotation assay, we show that a disordered ATG2_C domain located in the C-terminal part of VPS13A is required for membrane binding. (5/7)
The plasma membrane scramblase XKR1 directly interacts with the PH domain of VPS13A. All-atom MD simulations show that this interaction promotes a conformational change in XKR1 which exposes a hydrophilic groove, that acts as the scrambling region (4/7)
The cryo-EM data reveal that the VAB domain of VPS13A can adapt distinct conformations. These are likely to modulate the lipid transfer ability of VPS13A, and this mechanism is probably conserved in similar BLTPs. (3/7)
The first step: at Yale, Bodan solved at near-atomic resolution the structure a prototypical BLTP, VSP13A, in complex with Calmodulin (CaM) and a plasma membrane scramblase, XKR1, demonstrating their physical interaction. (2/7)
Happy to finally share the amazing results of our long-term collaboration with Karin Reinisch’s lab on how bridge lipid-transfer proteins (BLTPs) cooperate with partner proteins to orchestrate lipid delivery. A quick thread (1/7)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Experimental tour-de-force from Anne-Claude Gavin's lab: selectivity mapping of 39 lipid transfer proteins reveals ~500 new LTP-lipid pairs. Molecular modeling by @mahmoudmoqadam.bsky.social, @rezatalandahti.bsky.social & Florian Echelard. @cbubergen.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Join us for the 2026 Glycolipid & Sphingolipid Biology Gordon Research Conference (GRC).
📍 Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco (Italy)
🗓️ March 22 - 27, 2026
Theme: "Molecular Codes of Cell Identity and Recognition"
#LipidResearch #Sphingolipids #GRC2026 #ScienceConference #Lipidtime
Join us for a two-and-a-half-day meeting in the scenic Wye Valley, to discuss how membrane contact sites shape cellular homeostasis across organelles, organisms, and approaches.
📍 Chepstow, South Wales, UK | 🗓️ 28–30 September 2026
👉 :
www.eventsforce.net/biochemsoc/f...
TT in Experimental Biophysics
The Danish Institute for Advanced Study and the Dept of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor in Biophysics or a related discipline
fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...