Naoshige Uchida to Lead MCB as New Department Chair 🧠🧬🔬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvard.edu @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social

Naoshige Uchida to Lead MCB as New Department Chair - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology

After nearly two decades at Harvard, neuroscientist Naoshige Uchida is preparing to take on a new role: chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB). Uchida, […]

mcb.harvard.edu

What do lipid droplets do in neurons? Thrilled to share the 🌟1st preprint from my lab, led by Eleni Katafygiotou, showing activity-dependent formation of neuronal LDs in vitro and in vivo, and the impact of LD modulation on neuronal function and behavior. #lipidtime www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Activity-dependent lipid droplet biogenesis and turnover regulate synaptic integrity

Lipid droplets (LDs) are conserved organelles that buffer lipid storage and stress, yet their dynamics and functions in neurons remain largely unknown. Here, we report activity-dependent dynamics of n...

biorxiv.org

GRC Cell Biology of the Neuron Italy. Same venue in 2028 I'm co-chairing with @barrlab.bsky.social

Happy to share our review of seipin as a lipid rheostat, not just a #lipiddroplet biogenesis factor. Its flexible structure, with cofactors and ligands, integrates metabolic cues at organelle contacts, coordinating lipid storage, membrane synthesis, and signaling. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Seipin: A central lipid rheostat

Thiam and Carpentier review seipin as a conformationally dynamic lipid rheostat that steers lipid fate and preserves cellular metabolic balance.

rupress.org

Single molecule studies from Arda Mizrak in the Farese/Walther @msk & Harper Labs @harvardcellbio.bsky.social shows how lipid droplet proteins track through ER networks to ultimately partition into nanodomains on droplets, dependent upon Trp-containing hairpin motifs www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Membrane bridges and nanodomain partitioning govern membrane protein targeting to lipid droplets - Nature Cell Biology

Mizrak et al. use single-molecule tracking to dissect mechanisms of protein targeting to lipid droplets. They show that nanodomain-based confinement drives selective protein accumulation on lipid drop...

nature.com

New work from Maryanne Barasa et al shows that CX3CR1 deletion results in delayed microglial engagement and clearance of dying cortical neurons! 2Phatal continues to help us uncover important cell-cell interactions in vivo. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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...

Sooo happy to share our new paper in @nature.com “CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly.” A terrific collaboration with @arrudalab.bsky.social, led by co–first authors Alyssa Mathiowetz and Emily Maymand. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly - Nature

CRISPR–Cas9 screening identifies CLCC1 as a factor that increases neutral lipid flux to prevent hepatic steatosis and promotes nuclear pore complex assembly by promoting membrane bending and fusi...

nature.com

Awesome paper and super useful resource of CRISPR-based screens to identify regulators of #LipidDroplet biology under different metabolic conditions: crisprlipid.org

James Olzmann@olzmannlab.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Sooo happy to share our new paper in @nature.com “CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly.” A terrific collaboration with @arrudalab.bsky.social, led by co–first authors Alyssa Mathiowetz and Emily Maymand. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cells come in many shapes and sizes, with diverse physiological functions. But how do #organelles and their interaction networks remodel during #differentiation of stem cells into different cell types? Here’s what we discovered about neuronal differentiation: 1/13

bioRxiv Cell Biology@biorxiv-cellbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Organelle communication networks rewire to support lipid metabolism during neuronal differentiation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.10.704675v1

Thrilled to share our latest study, led by @reikatei.bsky.social, in @natchembio.nature.com! We began by asking a simple question—how do cells know if they have too much of a lipid in a particular membrane, and how do they respond to rectify this imbalance? www.nature.com/articles/s41... More info 👇

Membrane editing with proximity labeling reveals regulators of lipid homeostasis - Nature Chemical Biology

Coupling an optogenetic lipid-modifying enzyme with proximity labeling reveals protein networks and mechanisms regulating lipid homeostasis in the membranes of target organelles.

nature.com

Interested in lipids? Join us @ the 2026 FASEB Lipid Droplet: From Mechanisms to Disease Conference (July 26-30, Scottsdale, AZ). Registration is now open! events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-... We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!

Registration is open for the FASEB #LipidDroplet meeting in Scottsdale, July 26-30! This is THE premier North American conference on LDs, you do not want to miss it!

Henne lab@hennelab.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Interested in lipids? Join us @ the 2026 FASEB Lipid Droplet: From Mechanisms to Disease Conference (July 26-30, Scottsdale, AZ). Registration is now open! events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-... We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!

ExoSloNano: nanogold probe-based labeling of proteins in live cells for cryo-ET and CLEM. @lindseynyoung.bsky.social @thevillalab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ExoSloNano: multimodal nanogold labels for identification of macromolecules in live cells and cryo-electron tomograms - Nature Methods

The ExoSloNano system facilitates nanogold probe-based labeling of specific proteins of a wide range of sizes in live cells for cryo-electron tomography and correlative light and electron microscopy s...

nature.com

The new version of TrackMate, the v8.1 has just been released. It builds upon the recent v8, linked below, and offers two main improvements 👇

Jean-Yves Tinevez@jytinevez.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We just released a new major version of TrackMate (v8), the cell and organelle tracking plugin of Fiji. It ships many new features, detailed below, but that are articulated around the following:

I am thrilled to share our latest work led by @zurisullivan.bsky.social in collaboration with @moffittlab.bsky.social ! We find that the brain encodes distinct, pathogen-specific sickness states across behavior, physiology, neural activity, and gene expression 1/6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our red calcium indicator, FRCaMPi, and its soma-localized version, SomaFRCaMPi, are now available from @addgene.bsky.social in various vectors, along with all the sensors used for benchmarking. www.addgene.org/browse/artic...

Fat storage in the body relies on specialized structures called lipid droplets. In a new Science study, researchers identified the microprotein adipogenin as a regulator of adipocyte lipid droplet size, revealing a key mechanism in lipid homeostasis. Learn more this week: https://scim.ag/4nFEGO7

New paper in Science identifying adipogenin as a critical seipin regulator in LD biogenesis. So glad our lab could help a little in this monumental study. Congrats to all authors! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Adipogenin promotes the development of lipid droplets by binding a dodecameric seipin complex

The microprotein adipogenin (Adig) is predominantly expressed in adipose tissues. Here, we found that Adig interacts with seipin to form a stable, rigid complex. We present the structure of the seipin...

science.org

Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed. She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.

I am extremely grateful and deeply honored to be conferred the new title of Xander University Professor by @harvard.edu 🙏 🧠🧪🧬

Harvard_MCB@harvardmcb.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Catherine Dulac Named Xander University Professor 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @dulaclab.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @hhmi.org @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social

A new, nerdy paper. We figured out (some) of the rules underlying cell-permeability of probes and designed ligands that light up, grab, and move proteins around. Awesome @hhmijanelia.bsky.social x @uwmadison.bsky.social x @stjuderesearch.bsky.social collaboration! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

During these uncertain times, I’m very happy to see that my institution, @scripps.edu has an open tenure-track Assistant Professor position. Any field in Chemistry or Biology is welcome. I’d especially love to see fellow neuroscientists apply. Please repost! apply.interfolio.com/174756

🌟 Thrilled to share that my lab’s first publication is now out in @natmetabolism.nature.com. Congrats to the team 🎉 🧠 We discovered that neurons use endogenous fatty acids as an energy fuel, challenging long-standing models of sugars being the exclusive energy source for neurons. 1/3

Nature Metabolism@natmetabolism.nature.com · 10mo ago

Wonderful to see our paper on the #organelle signatures of #neurons and #astrocytes out in final form - congratulations, Shannon Rhoads and team!🎉 t.co/BPxKlbU6Ou

Our protocol for gene editing is online and all plasmids are on @addgene.bsky.social! CRISPR away everybody and get in touch if you need anything 🤩

STAR Protocols@cp-starprotocols.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Protocol for fast antibiotic resistance-based gene editing of mammalian cells with CRISPR-Cas9 #protocol #starprotocols #cellpress

Neural Circuit and Molecular Mechanism Underlying Social Hierarchy Identified 🧠 🧪🧬 🔬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @dulaclab.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social ss.bsky.social‬ @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social

Neural Circuit and Molecular Mechanism Underlying Social Hierarchy Identified - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology

The formation of social hierarchies is a fundamental aspect of group living, reducing conflict and guiding behavior across species—from animals to humans. Yet, the precise neural and molecular […]

mcb.harvard.edu

Thrilled to share a new preprint! 📝 🎉 Lewis lab PhD student Casadora wondered: Do mtDNA synthesis and lipid droplet biogenesis co-occur at the same membrane contact sites? Or can we discern distinct ER-mito contact classes? Evidence suggests the latter, relevant in overnutrition!

Sam Lewis, Ph.D.@samlewis.bsky.social · last yr.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Huge thanks to @gthibault.bsky.social and Julie Hollien for organizing a warm, welcoming FASEB ER meeting filled with incredible science! Excited that I will carry the torch as a co-organizer for the 2027 meeting….can’t wait! @faseborg.bsky.social

I am excited to share our new preprint! Led by @laylanassar.bsky.social , we have found a new JIP4-dependent mechanism that controls the efflux of cystine from lysosomes. Our findings have implications for both lysosome biology and human disease: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

JIP4 deficiency causes a novel lysosome storage disease arising from impaired cystine efflux

Lysosomes break down macromolecules, clear cellular waste and recycle nutrients such as cystine. We describe a novel mechanism whereby JIP4 regulates lysosomal cystine storage by controlling the abundance of cystinosin (CTNS), the transporter responsible for lysosomal cystine efflux. To this end, JIP4, previously characterized as a motor adaptor and kinase signaling scaffold, suppresses TMEM55B-dependent ubiquitylation of CTNS. Loss of JIP4 reduces CTNS protein levels, leading to lysosomal cystine accumulation and lysosomal storage defects that phenocopy loss of CTNS in both human cells and the renal proximal tubules of JIP4 knockout mice. These phenotypes mirror cystinosis, the lysosomal storage disease caused by CTNS loss-of-function. Our findings thus reveal a fundamental process that controls the efflux of lysosomal cystine and has relevance to understanding human disease arising from JIP4 mutations. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. NIH, AG085824, AG062210, R35GM150619 Michael J. Fox Foundation, https://ror.org/03arq3225, ASAP-000580

doi.org