A bit delayed, but proud to present our latest publication in @jcb.org extending the sphere of influence of the lipid kinase PIKfyve beyond the endo-lysosomal system and into the endoplasmic reticulum doi.org/10.1083/jcb....

PIKfyve influences inter-organelle contacts with lysosomes to modulate the endoplasmic reticulum

Long associated with the regulation of the endolysosomal pathway, the authors show that the PIKfyve lipid kinase extends its sphere of influence to modulat

doi.org

How do antimicrobial peptides kill bacteria? In collab. with Joe McPhee, we show that LL37 kills gram-negatives late during binary fission. If bacteria avoid division by filamenting, then they are protected! So, bacterial division is a target of LL37 antimicrobial peptide. doi.org/10.64898/202...

OMG.. this game 3 is stressful!!

Reference letter for this and that and this! Can we all come up with a system to reduce the burden of reference letter writing! Maybe professional schools should request letters only after a student is conditionally accepted instead of during the application phase.

Our next "little" story in now in biorxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We explore the role of lysosome pH in lysosome tubulation in LPS-exposed macrophages and dabble in machine learning to quantify lysosome tubulation.

Dissipation of lysosome pH impairs formation and collapses existing LPS-induced lysosome tubules in macrophages

Lysosomes are organelles responsible for degrading unwanted extracellular material that cells internalize, or intracellular material targeted for disposal. Typically, lysosomes are globular in morphol...

biorxiv.org

I am 76 & I have had most of these vaccinations at one time or another. Also vaccinations against Covid, Tetanus, plus Cholera & Yellow Fever when travelling in foreign countries. These prevented me catching horrible diseases & dying a gruesome death. They did not harm me, they protected me!

The pre-vaccine era was HELL for kids. We have already failed them on gun safety, we cannot fail them on the issue of vaccines. #VACCINES cause Adults!

Aaron Fountain, Mélanie Mansat, Roberto Botelho @botelholabcanada.bsky.social and colleagues discover that depletion of endomembrane reservoirs drives phagocytic appetite exhaustion in macrophages. Highlight: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

While not new, I'm excited to share the official publication of Fountain, Mansat et al. on phagocytic appetite exhaustion, which was selected as a highlighted paper and used as the cover page. Woohoo. journals.biologists.com/jcs/issue/13...

Volume 138 Issue 16 | Journal of Cell Science | The Company of Biologists

journals.biologists.com

Happy to share our next preprint revealing that the lipid kinase PIKfyve does not simply impact the endolysosomal pathway, but helps modulate the ER properties by modulating ER hitchhiking and contact sites via protrudin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

PIKfyve governs endoplasmic reticulum-lysosome contacts to modulate endoplasmic reticulum dynamics

Lysosomes are essential to clear unwanted cellular material delivered by constant membrane fusion. Membrane fission is thus required to balance lysosome size, number, and composition. PIKfyve is a lip...

biorxiv.org

Okay, let's start using this platform. For those into phagocytosis, here's the latest revised preprint on phagocytic exhaustion mechanisms - hopefully, followed by the official peer-review publication in the next few days. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Depletion of endomembrane reservoirs drives phagocytic appetite exhaustion in macrophages

During phagocytosis, a phagocytic cup grows via F-actin remodelling and localized secretion to entrap a particle within a phagosome, which then fuses with endosomes and lysosomes to digest the particl...

biorxiv.org

Moving into this space and leaving twitter... poor blue birdie, it was corrupted into an ugly demon zombie monster by a bad human.