Jason Casler

A pleasure to write this short review on lipid droplets for
@jcb.org together with Will Prinz and amazing artist Emma Reynolds!

We discuss 5 pervasive questions surrounding these remarkable little lipid organelles.

doi.org/10.1083/jcb....

Thompson, Stevenson et al @bristoluni.bsky.social show that two cis-Golgi golgins, GMAP210 & Golgin-160, have distinct roles in maintaining #Golgi organization & that both are required to support the efficient secretion, assembly, and modification of ECM proteins rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Side-by-side systematic characterization of novel FPs in budding yeast Fluorescent proteins (FPs) have become indispensable for biological research. Since the discovery of the first FP, Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein (avGFP), new fluorescent proteins are con...

(Yet another) shout-out to @joachimgoedhart.bsky.social and colleagues for their ongoing technical service to the cell biology community – in this case, the yeast cell biology community. Special kudos for making all the key plasmids available on @addgene.bsky.social. Stellar work all around!

🚨BREAKING NEWS: RFK Jr. is a danger to this nation. Don’t give in to Trump & his cronies: we are NOT trading innovation for ideology. We demand the immediate IMPEACHMENT and REMOVAL of RFK. Stop the quack. Protect Science. Protect Democracy
Sign & share here: zurl.co/PEPyD
#StandUpForScience

The Vps13-like protein BLTP2 regulates phosphatidylethanolamine levels to maintain plasma membrane fluidity and breast cancer aggressiveness - Nature Cell Biology Banerjee et al. report that the Vps13-like lipid transport protein BLTP2 regulates plasma membrane fluidity by maintaining phosphatidylethanolamine homeostasis. BLTP2 also facilitates breast cancer ce...

🍹Banerjee et al. report that the Vps13-like #lipid transport protein BLTP2 regulates plasma membrane fluidity by maintaining phosphatidylethanolamine homeostasis. BLTP2 also facilitates #BreastCancer cell growth, suggesting a separate role in tumorigenesis.
bit.ly/45ieyD9

We are proud to be a founding contributor to lipidinteractome.org, a repository developed by @tafesselab.bsky.social & Schultz lab to increase accessibility to proteomics data from multi-functionalized lipid analogs! Check out the website & preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2507.23101 #lipidtime

Juhi Narula and Sarah Wignall (@sadiewignall.bsky.social) identify a new role for the conserved kinase PLK-1 in suppressing centrosome maturation in oocytes, which surprisingly is opposite to its role in mitosis. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

#CellCycle #Genetics #Cytoskeleton #Development

Proud to be a signatory on this letter in support of the courageous staff at the NIH who penned the Bethesda Declaration to decry the ongoing politicization and damage to the US biomedical research infrastructure which has been the envy of the world.

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

Northwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025

Jason Casler @jasoncasler.bsky.social, Clare Harper and Laura Lackner @lllackner.bsky.social find that mitochondria–plasma membrane contact sites regulate the ER–mitochondria encounter structure.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
#JCSMitoSI #OpenAccess #ReadandPublish

"If we cut or limit funding for curiosity-driven research, we risk shutting down the pipeline of future innovation. While the outcomes of basic science may seem unclear or esoteric at first, such work frequently forms the bedrock of future technologies, treatments, and therapies." 👏👏👏

Lipid Research Division Seminar Series March 26, 2025 | 12 p.m. Eastern

Join us March 26th at 12pm ET - @asbmb.bsky.social LRD seminar series.

We have two great mitochondria-focused lipid talks planned from @jasoncasler.bsky.social from @lllackner.bsky.social's lab and Kailash Venkatraman from @ibudin.bsky.social's lab.

Register here! www.asbmb.org/meetings-eve...

Today's the day to make our voices heard. Hope to see everyone there who is able. www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

It's going to take a massive amount of public pressure to end the dismantling of the American scientific enterprise. Time for action. To anyone in the Chicagoland area who is able and wants to vocalize their support for science, please join us on March 7th.
www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

U.S. early-career researchers struggling amid chaos Uncertain funding, government firings, and distressed universities hit vulnerable groups especially hard

“There’s going to be a missing age class of researchers that will reverberate for years.” scim.ag/3ERRLDo

NIH indirects case update:

Hearing ongoing now, and I'll try to live tweet some notable exchanges.

Prior to more detailed arguments, Judge Kelley starts off with a few point questions to both sides:

(I'm paraphrasing here)

Significantly reduced, but balanced, rates of mitochondrial fission and fusion are sufficient to maintain the integrity of yeast mitochondrial DNA | Molecular Biology of the Cell Mitochondria exist as dynamic tubular networks and the morphology of these networks impacts organelle function and cell health. Mitochondrial morphology is maintained in part by the opposing activitie...

How do #mitochondria decide when to divide or fuse? I’ve always thought mtDNA played a key role in this process, so I was very surprised by this finding: The loss of mtDNA does not affect mitochondrial fission and fusion rates.
www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...

We are happy to report that our journals and community sites now have Bluesky accounts. Follow them at:
@dev-journal.bsky.social
@jcellsci.bsky.social
@jexpbiol.bsky.social
@dmmjournal.bsky.social
@biologyopen.bsky.social
@the-node.bsky.social
@prelights.bsky.social
@focalplane.bsky.social

As long as mitochondrial fusion and fission rates are balanced, mtDNA acquires mutations at the wild type frequency! Additionally, increasing the quantity of mtDNA can suppress the rate at which cells lose mitochondrial respiratory competence due to acquired mtDNA mutations.

I will use my first post here to contribute to the growing scientific community and plug our lab's newest paper
www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10.....

We demonstrate that, surprisingly, a massive reduction in the rates of mitochondrial fission and fusion has no adverse effects on mtDNA integrity