Jeeyun Chung

🌟 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

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 🤩

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 […]

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

Congratulations Sarah 🤩🥳

Yay, congrats 🥳

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!

Congratulations Jeremy 🥳

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

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

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...

Cocrystal structure reveals the mechanism of FSP1 inhibition by FSEN1 | PNAS FSP1 is an FAD-dependent oxidoreductase that uses NAD(P)H to regenerate the reduced forms of lipophilic quinone antioxidants, such as coenzyme Q10 ...

Thrilled this paper is out! We solved the first cocrystal structure of FSP1 with an inhibitor (FSEN1), providing mechanistic insight & a foundation for medchem. Led by Amalia Megarioti & Sitao Zhang. A terrific collaboration with Da Jia.
Brief Skytorial!
1/9

Congratulations James! 🥳

Congratulations!!!!

Thanks for all the inspiration today! Great day to learn about pain — and how to deal with it.

Gut-wrenching, surreal day in science. Gave a seminar at Harvard on the same day most investigators got NIH grant termination emails. Should I have paid for dinner?? I did try to be as entertaining as possible…

A New Window into Protein Interactions at the Nanoscale - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Understanding how proteins interact inside living cells is fundamental to biology. Yet, visualizing these interactions with high precision—and at the scale and condition at which they actually occur—h...

A New Window into Protein Interactions at the Nanoscale 🧪🧬 #academicsky
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @sohaibar.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @microbiometcell.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social

Nobel Laureate Ardem Patapoutian to Deliver 2025 Konrad Bloch Lecture on May 15 - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Nobel Laureate and HHMI Investigator Ardem Patapoutian, PhD will deliver the 2025 Bloch lecture. His talk, “May the Force Be With You! Piezo Channels in Mechanosensory Biology,” will […]

Nobel Laureate Ardem Patapoutian to Deliver 2025 Konrad Bloch Lecture on May 15 #academicsky @ardemp.bskyverified.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social @hekstralab.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...

Very proud of Dean and excited for what he will uncover with the support of the GRFP! 🥳

Harvard Graduate Student Dean Rosenthal Wins Prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Dean Rosenthal, a second-year PhD student in Harvard’s Biological Sciences in Public Health (BPH) program, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP)—one of the...

Harvard Graduate Student Dean Rosenthal Wins Prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship #AcademicSky #PhDSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @jeeyunc.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social

Structural basis of lipid transfer by a bridge-like lipid-transfer protein - Nature The LPD-3 complex structure reveals protein–lipid interactions that suggest a model for how the native LPD-3 complex mediates bulk lipid transport and provides a foundation for mechanistic studies of ...

Structural basis of lipid transfer by a bridge-like lipid-transfer protein
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cell membranes sustain phospholipid imbalance via cholesterol asymmetry This work challenges a major assumption in cell biology by showing that lipid bilayers can have drastically different phospholipid abundances between their two leaflets. This lipid abundance asymmetry...

A couple of weeks late (but before its in an issue!) but I want to highlight this exceptionally important paper from @leventallab.bsky.social in @cellpress.bsky.social on a new and fundamentally important model for the plasma membrane of mammalian cells www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

A cross-propagating ultrasound wave exposes a thin tissue section that contains blood vessels feeding a tumor. The wave interacts with sound-scattering probes (displayed in orange gold) that are genetically expressed in cancer cells or are injected in the bloodstream to reveal capillary vessels. White contour lines indicate previously scanned tissue sections and the total volume explored by this sound-sheet microscopy technique.

A new method reported in Science allows the generation of 3D ultrasound images of gene expression and 2D ultrasound images of capillary vessels. The approach enables fast, deep, and volumetric imaging of living opaque organs labeled with echogenic reporters.

Learn more this week: scim.ag/4jf4rDa

Cell membranes sustain phospholipid imbalance via cholesterol asymmetry This work challenges a major assumption in cell biology by showing that lipid bilayers can have drastically different phospholipid abundances between their two leaflets. This lipid abundance asymmetry...

Groundbreaking study in Cell from @leventallab.bsky.social: phospholipid asymmetry is a defining feature of the plasma membrane and cholesterol fills the holes — major implications for how this membrane works. A #lipidtime must-read! www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

James Berger will Deliver the Paul Doty Lecture on April 10 - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology This year, James M Berger, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will return to Harvard to present the Doty Lecture, “Still Unscrambling the Puzzle of Biological Machines: […]

James M. Berger will Deliver the Paul Doty Lecture on April 10
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @fleshball.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social @hekstralab.bsky.social

Leucine aminopeptidase LyLAP enables lysosomal degradation of membrane proteins Breakdown of every transmembrane protein trafficked to lysosomes requires proteolysis of their hydrophobic helical transmembrane domains. Combining lysosomal proteomics with functional genomic dataset...

Leucine aminopeptidase LyLAP enables lysosomal degradation of membrane proteins | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The final version of our work on the in-cell architecture of the mitochondrial respiratory chain is now online in @science.org 🎉
You can find the full story here www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@verenaresch.bsky.social did a wonderful job on the cover and animation, she really brought it to life 👩‍🎨

MCB to Host 2025 Prather Lectures Featuring Feng Zhang - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology This year, MCB will host the annual John M. Prather Lectures in Biology, a series of three talks inspired by a bequest to Harvard by the 19th-century Harvard-trained […]

MCB to Host 2025 Prather Lectures Featuring Feng Zhang
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... 🧬🧫🧪 @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social @fleshball.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social

We are going!... spread the word, help defend science!

Hey #chemsky and beyond, with all that is going on, I am curious what expensive, high margin molecules we could provide to the community for free. What things do you use all the time, cost way too much, and would make a difference? Alexa Fluor 488 NHS? Other dyes? Other molecule?

Congratulations Tony!!