Timothy Hla

Membrane integrity changes upon viral infection activate sphingomyelinase SMPDL3B to restrict cGAS-STING signaling via cGAMP degradation Wang et al. find that cell membrane stress upon viral infection induces expression and stabilization of host sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase acid-like 3B (SMPDL3B), which, in turn, degrades cGAMP to s...

Sphingolipid sensor degrades cGAMP to suppress antiviral host defense- #virus #lipids #hostdefense #innateImmunity
www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

New England #foliage #sunsets #TalcottNotch #CT

A Long-Awaited Longevity Mystery Solved Spotlighting an essential human biologic pathway targeted by drugs in clinical trials

What does the naked mole rat’s extreme healthspan have to do with ongoing clinical trials?

open.substack.com/pub/erictopo...

Well-exercised male mice appear to pass fitness to their male offspring Surprising epigenetic effect relies on snippets of RNA packaged within sperm

Male mice that exercise can pass their newly gained fitness on to male offspring.

If the same holds true in humans, researchers say, fathers could help improve the health of any future children by staying in shape themselves. https://scim.ag/47igpZm

Endothelial gateways for brain lipid uptake and metabolism: www.jci.org/articles/vie...

A. Dushani Ranasinghe & Timothy Hla  Comment on Wenxin Song et al: www.jci.org/articles/vie...

Cells are swapping their mitochondria. What does this mean for our health? Researchers are studying why the energy factories are moving between cells and whether the process can be harnessed to treat cancer and other diseases.

Researchers are studying why mitochondria are moving between cells and whether the process can be harnessed to treat cancer and other diseases

go.nature.com/4fYoEwG

Duh!!

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis - Nature N-glycans on glycoRNAs prevent innate immune sensing of endogenous small RNAs, and the natural mechanism they use demonstrates how glycoRNAs exist on the cell surface and in the endosomal network with...

Another piece of the #glycoRNA puzzle revealed by @raflynn5.bsky.social and @vijayrathinam.bsky.social!! RNAs with modified base acp3U activate TLR3/7, but not when acp3U is N-glycosylated. This is how cell surface/secreted glycoRNAs avoid stimulating autoimmunity.

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

Very good news and we should all continue to ask our colleagues to come here to Bluesky.

Opinion | China’s Biotech Is Cheaper and Faster

China’s Biotech Is Cheaper and Faster www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/o...

Lipid and Lipoprotein Metabolism in Microglia: Alzheimer’s Disease Mechanisms and Interventions Alzheimer’s disease (AD) presents a significant challenge owing to its widespread prevalence and complex neuropathogenesis, affecting millions worldwide. Current therapeutic strategies that predominan...

Excellent review on lipids and CNS neurodegenerative diseases. A neglected area...Lipid and Lipoprotein Metabolism in Microglia: Alzheimer’s Disease Mechanisms and Interventions - Journal of Lipid Research www.jlr.org/article/S002...

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis - Nature N-glycans on glycoRNAs prevent innate immune sensing of endogenous small RNAs, and the natural mechanism they use demonstrates how glycoRNAs exist on the cell surface and in the endosomal network with...

#GlycoPower! @vijayrathinam.bsky.social
@raflynn5.bsky.social @vinnieviruses.bsky.social &co show @nature.com that N-glycosylation of host small-RNAs present at cell surface prevents immune recognition by TLR3 and TLR7 upon apoptotic cells uptake avoiding autoinflammation!

thehill.com/homenews/sen...

Senate committee endorses NIH budget increase, rebuking Trump administration’s proposed 40% cut Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday

Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of NIH.

The Appropriations Committee vote represents a clear opposition of presidential plan to dramatically reduce the support for NIH.

www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/n...

NIH to Limit AI Use, Cap Grant Applications at 6 per Year The National Institutes of Health says its new policy comes after the agency “recently observed instances of Principal Investigators submitting large numbers of applications.”

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Future of NIH in the hands of five senators.

Write to them if you are in
PA -McCormick
WV - Moore Capito
ME - Collins
AL - Britt
LA - Cassidy

Inflamed endothelial cells express S1PR1 inhibitor CD69 to induce vascular leak Inflammation disrupts endothelial barrier function and causes vascular leak into the tissue parenchyma. Sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1PR1) in endothelial cells (EC) is a key inducer of endothe...

Latest paper from the lab - CD69 in endothelial cells..Inflamed endothelial cells express S1PR1 inhibitor CD69 to induce vascular leak - Journal of Biological Chemistry www.jbc.org/article/S002...

HDL-bound S1P affects the subventricular niche and early neuropathological features of Alzheimer’s disease - Nature Communications The blood ApoM-S1P complex regulates vascular functions, but its role in neurogenic niches remains unclear. Here, the authors show that the blood ApoM-S1P complex preserves V-SVZ homeostasis and prote...

HDL bound S1P in adult neurogenesis and Alzheimer’s disease! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dynamic cytoskeletal regulation of cell shape supports resilience of lymphatic endothelium - Nature Dynamic cytoskeletal regulation of lymphatic endothelial cell shape, induced by isotropic stretch and crucial for dermal lymphatic capillary function, is identified and found to result from continuous...

• Happy to announce that our paper in @nature.com is finally out! Thanks to the perseverance of @taijamakinenlab.bsky.social and our many collaborators we finally pulled it off! A small 🧵

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Laymen video:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Will the Senate Save NIH? Rescuing biomedical research is every bit as important as saving Medicaid.

Will senators save the NIH? prospect.org/politics/202...

Apolipoprotein M attenuates age-related macular degeneration phenotypes via sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling and lysosomal lipid catabolism - Nature Communications Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness. Here, the authors identify a role for apolipoprotein M in AMD that may present a therapeutic target.

Seems ApoM Rx may be beneficial for dry AMD in mice - excellent paper by #Javaheri and #Apte groups @WashU www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Great study from Srinivasan lab - #S1P #Lymphatics rupress.org/jem/article/...

happening today!
www.lipidmaps.org/resources/ed...

Here Is All the Science at Risk in Trump’s Clash With Harvard More than 900 research grants worth $2.6 billion are in jeopardy. So is the 80-year-old model of American science.

Here Is All the Science at Risk in Trump’s Clash With Harvard www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

People With Severe Diabetes Are Cured in Small Trial of New Drug

People With Severe Diabetes Are Cured in Small Trial of New Drug www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/h... #DougMelton #Harvard

How China can become a biotechnology superpower After decades of pioneering institutional change in Chinese research, neuroscientist Rao Yi explains why US hesitation might offer China an opportunity to catch up internationally.

Given the sea change in science funding, policy and public disinterest - the center of gravity in biomedical science will likely shift in the coming years ! Hopefully freedom of expression and reporting of truth will not change... #VERITAS

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The trickle-down effect of President Trump's massive NIH budget cuts U.S. medical research is at a precipice as President Trump proposes cutting $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health.

The US research ecosystem, the crown jewel of the world, is systematically getting destroyed. Will the public stand idly by?
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Less than a week to go… if you haven't registered for this month's #webinar, titled: ‘Biology and therapeutic approaches of sphingolipid chaperones and receptors’ with Timothy Hla (@hlatim.bsky.social), you can register here: bit.ly/3FeiBpT

NPR readers share stories of love and adversity in honor of Loving Day June 12th is Loving Day, a holiday that commemorates the Loving v. Virginia case, which allowed interracial marriage in all parts of the U.S. NPR readers share how the case changed their lives.

June 12th is Loving Day, a holiday that commemorates the Loving v. Virginia case, which allowed interracial marriage in all parts of the U.S. NPR readers share how the case changed their lives.

Glycosaminoglycan-driven lipoprotein uptake protects tumours from ferroptosis - Nature Lipoprotein uptake dependent on sulfated glycosaminoglycans linked to cell-surface proteoglycans is a key determinant of ferroptosis sensitivity in cancer.

#VitaminE_FriendOrFoe?! Garcia-Bermudez &co show @nature.com that tumors uptake lipoproteins enriched in Vitamin E protecting cancer cells from ferroptosis! Identification of sulfated glycans as port of entry of lipoproteins can be used therapeutically to force tumor ferroptotic cell death!