Itay Budin

How does Mycoplasma pneumoniae scavenge lipids from its host membranes? P116 is an adaptive, all-in-one lipid acquisition machinery fit for any host environment.

How does Mycoplasma pneumoniae scavenge lipids from its host membranes? | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Tenure-track Position in Biophysics at Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Physics Location: Pittsburgh, PA Open Date: Sep 19, 2025 Description The Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics. The appointment is intended to be at the Assistant Professor level, but exceptional candidates at a higher level may also be considered. We seek outstanding candidates with a strong record in cellular and subcellular biophysics. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, uncovering how key characteristics of living systems arise from the interplay between supramolecular cellular structures, how the emergent cellular circuitry defines goals and enables robust decision making, and how metabolic resources are allocated. This encompasses understanding of how information is learned, stored, transduced, and processed across subcellular structures. Applicants with theoretical, data science, or experimental backgrounds within biological physics are encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate will strengthen and extend research programs of current biophysics faculty in the Department of Physics and collaborate with broader life science activities across many departments at CMU and the wider Pittsburgh area. More details on Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/174360

I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪

Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360

PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!

Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:

1/10

Molecular basis for the regulation of membrane proteins through preferential lipid solvation - Nature Chemical Biology Static protein structures can capture the association of lipids, but it is unclear whether the association is due to lipids acting as long-lived ligands or the solvation of preferred lipids around the protein. A computational-experimental framework has now shown that for the protein CLC-ec1, it is the change in lipid solvation energies that drives dimerization, with preferred lipids around the protein modulating this driving force.

Are the lipids associated with static protein structures there as long-lived ligands or an effect of preferential solvation? This computational-experimental framework shows the way! #lipidtime #compchem

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

Congrats Erdinc! So well deserved

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

Getting lectured by Markus Deserno about publishing bangers, now that’s rich!

Congrats to you Roberto!

Thanks Andrew!

Thanks André :)

This work was aided greatly through help from the Devaraj (UCSD), Obara (UCSD), and Best (UT Knockville) labs. It was supported by NIGMS and Paul Allen Family Foundation @alleninstitute.org. Reagents for implementing FACES will soon be available from Avanti Polar Lipids and Addgene.

We think FACES is a powerful approach for beginning to interrogate the hidden heterogeneity and asymmetry of intracellular membranes. It can also be applied to other molecules accessible to biorthogonal labeling, like intracellular glycans that are difficult to image via direct fluorescence.

He then shows that fusing fluorogen sensors to either side of a transmembrane domain allows for imaging of leaflet-specific phospholipid distributions in the trans-Golgi network. He sees that asymmetry is generated at TGN vesicles and finds transporters and flippases that control this asymmetry.

Will shows that organelle targeted FAPs can be used to untangle the role of lipid transfer proteins in trafficking of phospholipids like PC across organelle contact sites, like those of the ER and mitochondria.

FACES is the brainchild of incredibly creative and talented post-doc Will Moore @moorrhizal.bsky.social. It combines bioorthogonal labeling of phospholipids with fluorogen technology, in which fluorescence is generated upon coincidence of a lipid-bound dye and a genetically-encoded protein sensor.

Leaflet-specific phospholipid imaging using genetically encoded proximity sensors - Nature Chemical Biology An approach combining bioorthogonal chemistry with genetically encoded fluorogen-activating proteins enables subcellular imaging of phospholipids and glycans, as well as the visualization of lipid tra...

Very excited to share new work out today in @natchembio.nature.com on a new approach - FACES - for selectively imaging of phospholipids and other biomolecules at spatial resolutions down to individual membrane leaflets (1/n) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

UW Tacoma is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and a teaching Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry. Please share widely and consider applying.

Biochemistry:
apply.interfolio.com/172884
Organic Chemistry:
apply.interfolio.com/172940

Depends on the temperature you grew them up at :P

Awesome, congrats!

I am delighted to announce that the UW Department of Biochemistry has opened searches for TWO tenure-track positions.

Descriptions and links in the following two posts.

Quantitative imaging of lipid transport in mammalian cells - Nature Directional, non-vesicular lipid transport is responsible for fast, species-selective lipid sorting into organelle membranes.

Tour de force on the kinetics and mechansms of lipid transport in cells through exquisite use of bifunctional probes by @nadlerlab.bsky.social and colleagues. Such an exciting time for the field. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very excited to see this work out and all the impressive additions in the published version!

Organelle-Targeted Laurdans Measure Heterogeneity in Subcellular Membranes and Their Responses to Saturated Lipid Stress Organelles feature characteristic lipid compositions that lead to differences in membrane properties. In cells, membrane ordering and fluidity are commonly measured using the solvatochromic dye Laurdan, whose fluorescence is sensitive to lipid packing. As a general lipophilic dye, Laurdan stains all hydrophobic environments in cells; therefore, it is challenging to characterize membrane properties in specific organelles or assess their responses to pharmacological treatments in intact cells. Here, we describe the synthesis and application of Laurdan-derived probes that read out the membrane packing of individual cellular organelles. The set of organelle-targeted Laurdans (OTL) localizes to the ER, mitochondria, lysosomes, and Golgi compartments with high specificity while retaining the spectral resolution needed to detect biological changes in membrane ordering. We show that ratiometric imaging with OTLs can resolve membrane heterogeneity within organelles as well as changes in lipid packing resulting from inhibition of trafficking or bioenergetic processes. We apply these probes to characterize organelle-specific responses to saturated lipid stress. While the ER and lysosomal membrane fluidity is sensitive to exogenous saturated fatty acids, that of mitochondrial membranes is protected. We then use differences in ER membrane fluidity to sort populations of cells based on their fatty acid diet, highlighting the ability of organelle-localized solvatochromic probes to distinguish between cells based on their metabolic state. These results expand the repertoire of targeted membrane probes and demonstrate their application in interrogating lipid dysregulation.

The 4 chemically targeted Laurdan derivatives (for mitochondria, ER, lyso/endosomes, and the Golgi) that we published last year are now available (at a pretty reasonable price) from Avanti Polar Lipids (cat #880194, 880197, 880193, 880196). These have been very popular! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

ZBTB11 depletion targets metabolic vulnerabilities in KRAS inhibitor-resistant PDAC - Nature Chemical Biology Depletion of a transcriptional factor ZBTB11 using molecular glue degraders can overcome oxidative-phosphorylation-mediated KRAS inhibitor resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with low acute...

Excited to share our latest work developing molecular glue degraders of ZBTB11, now out in @natchembio.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thanks Jeremy!

Aww thanks buddy

Thanks Fikadu! Was great meeting you in NH last week

Thanks Jeeyun!

Thank you! So appreciative of all the tremendous work you and leadership are doing at @ascbiology.bsky.social

Honored to be among this amazing group and be recognized for the early career research award in memory of Günter Blobel

Looking for a postdoc - Shi Lab The Shi lab at Rutgers-New Brunswick is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to study biomolecular condensates and/or mechanosensitive membrane proteins. To see more information and apply, please go to t...

We are looking for a postdoc to study biomolecular condensates and/or mechanosensitive membrane proteins. Please help spread the news 🙏
sites.rutgers.edu/shi-lab/look...