UFMylation of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Regulates Mitochondrial Metabolism - preLights UFMylation, discovered for the first time in mitochondrial proteins, is found to keep pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and downstream glucose oxidation in check.

UFMylation, discovered for the first time in mitochondrial proteins, is found to keep pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and downstream glucose oxidation in check.

Hannah Pletcher (@nieminm.bsky.social lab) highlights work from @rjdlab.bsky.social

#preLight ⬇️
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/u...

Cell-type-targeted mitochondrial transplantation rescues cell degeneration - Nature MitoCatch is a cell-type-specific mitochondrion-targeting system that links mitochondria and the cell surface by protein binders and delivers mitochondria into the target cell.

Last 2 weeks of research on #Mitochondria in #Health and #Disease! 📚
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...

Among highlights 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social

Mitochondrial translation elongation controls OXPHOS biogenesis by coordinating synthesis and folding of mitochondrially encoded proteins Xie et al. show that mitochondrial translation elongation rate influences OXPHOS biogenesis. In the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, MRM1 slows elongation speed independently of its methyltransferase activity by simultaneously binding mitoribosomes and mRNAs, thereby coordinating synthesis with folding and membrane insertion of mitochondrially encoded OXPHOS subunits.

Mitochondrial translation elongation controls OXPHOS biogenesis by coordinating synthesis and folding of mitochondrially encoded proteins

Drosophila models have been highly useful in dissecting the physiological roles of PINK1 and Parkin in #mitophagy

Led by 3 talented PhD students, we wrote a review summarising recent exciting discoveries and discussed these in context of current in vitro studies

portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...

Will you update us when you figure it out? I’m invested in finding out what’s limiting your reaction!

MAP2K6 directly phosphorylates BCL2L13 to mediate mitophagy for suppressing tumorigenicity We discovered that MKK6 could localize to mitochondria and autophagosome and directly phosphorylate BCL2L13 at the S426 site, thereby elevating mitophagy, inhibiting OXPHOS, and preventing malignancy ...

MAP2K6 directly phosphorylates BCL2L13 to mediate mitophagy for suppressing tumorigenicity

www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Is glutamine synthetase feedback inhibited by the glutamine being produced in the reaction?

I am honored to be nominated for ASCB Council this year. If you are an ASCB member, please share and vote before April 30th!

The amazing @rogerslabucd.bsky.social is also on the ballot!

Pleased to share our recent work out today in @natmetabolism.nature.com. This study addresses a longstanding mystery - NRF2-driven cancers increase cysteine acquisition (via xCT) by ~5x - so where does all that cysteine go?

4,5-dihydroxyhexanoic acid is a robust circulating and urine marker of mitochondrial disease and its severity - preLights Shining light on a dark metabolite: 4,5-DHHA as a potential biomarker for mitochondrial disease with respiratory chain dysfunction.

Shining light on a dark metabolite: 4,5-DHHA as a potential #biomarker for mitochondrial disease with respiratory chain dysfunction. 🔦

New post by Hannah Pletcher on work from Owen S. Skinner & colleagues #mitochondria #biochemistry

#preLight ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/4...

Check out the fantastic perspective by @jellevda.bsky.social & @prudentlab.bsky.social on our #pearling work, out in the same @science.org issue!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This is so, so well-articulated.

How strong is a mitochondrial targeting signal? Carlotta Peselj @cpeselj.bsky.social and Nora Vögtle @zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de discuss new work by Yan, @ianofbristol.bsky.social, @nieminm.bsky.social et al. (rupress.org/jcb/article/...), in Spotlight: rupress.org/jcb/article/...

#Mitochondria

Data is good but this is so insultingly obvious to every woman in academia who has had a child.

It’s incredibly hard to study lipids in biological membranes on the nanoscale. You need near-perfect information on both membrane ultrastructure and lipid density. Lipid-CLEM, now out in @natcellbio.nature.com brought to you by @mathilda95.bsky.social changes that:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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

What a fun surprise to open this app and find that our work had been featured in a @jcb.org spotlight!! Many thanks to @cpeselj.bsky.social and Nora Vögtle for the great write up!

The genetics of obesity: aetiology, prevention and therapy - Nature Metabolism This Review discusses the genetics of obesity, highlighting its diverse forms and describing technological advancements in genetic studies that may enable precision medicine strategies to combat obesi...

A new review, the #genetics of #obesity www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Always, just making myself feel better 😂

This is the only reason I agreed to move to Missouri from Wisconsin 🧀

Single-molecule peptide sequencing through reverse translation of peptides into DNA - Nature Biotechnology Peptides are sequenced by converting each amino acid into amplifiable DNA barcodes.

Would I have called it reverse translation? No. Do I think it is? Also no. Is it cool? Heck yes.

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

This is kinda bonkers.

In addition, 20 amino acids were found on Ryugu, along with uracil and vitamin B3. These have been found in other instances, but since the samples from Ryugu were collected directly from the asteroid and delivered in sealed capsules, contamination on Earth could be ruled out.

Phylogenetic trees of representative thymidilate kinases, including putative polyphosphate kinanase 3 (PPK3) with mapped neighborhoods.

🧬 How do Crenarchaeota make and use polyphosphate?
In our new JBC paper we identify a new polyphosphate kinase family (PPK3) — a distinct heteromeric enzyme
doi.org/10.1016/j.jb...
🔬 A missing piece of the puzzle.
#Archaea #Biochemistry #Microbiology #Polyphosphate

Rising Stars in Metabolism Symposium Join us for Rising Stars in Metabolism Symposium at Van Andel Institute Stay informed about exciting upcoming events and activities.

Hot meeting alert!! 🚨🚨 @vai.org is hosting Rising Stars and Horizons in Metabolism, a new format, 2 day symposium highlighting both established and up and coming leaders in Metabolic research. Check it out and register here: www.vai.org/event/rising...

How does the cell tune p97/Cdc48 activity for different substrates?
Study suggests different adaptor combinations function as molecular accelerators of protein clearance.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Vitamin B2 and B3 nutrigenomics reveals a therapy for NAXD disease A nutrigenomics framework identifies genetic diseases amenable to vitamin B2 and B3 therapies. This approach nominates vitamin B3 as a therapy for NAXD deficiency, a lethal neurodevelopmental disorder...

Last 2 weeks of literature on #Mitochondria in #Health & #Disease! 🤍 💚
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...

@biomednews.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social

Vit B2 and B3 nutrigenomics reveals a therapy for NAXD disease
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Join us for a great session @asbmb.bsky.social annual meeting tomorrow. Our session starts at 9:30 am!

❓ Solving mitochondria isolation challenges: Traditional enzymatic methods compromise mitochondrial surface proteins in #Yeast; new glass bead mechanical approach preserves Atg32 integrity for quantitative #Mitophagy analysis

🔬 #YeastResearch #SGD
www.yeastgenome.org/reference/S1...

Super excited to present out work at @mitotalks.bsky.social this Thursday!! Hope to see you there!

Stress adaptation of mitochondrial protein import by OMA1-mediated degradation of DNAJC15 Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Published online: 27 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41594-026-01756-0Kroczek et al show that degradation of DNAJC15 by OMA1 and AFG3L2 under stress limits mitochondrial protein import and OXPHOS biogenesis. Non-imported proteins lead to the induction of the unfolded protein responses from the endoplasmic reticulum.

New online: Stress adaptation of mitochondrial protein import by OMA1-mediated degradation of DNAJC15