Roberto Zoncu Lab

Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived

A powerful piece by M. Gessen

I can't do it justice by excerpt

go read it (gift link)

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...

Join us in sunny California for the 2026 GRC Autophagy meeting! Excited to co-chair with Oliver Florey and vice chairs Helene Knaevelsrud and @robzonculab.bsky.social
Keynote speakers incl. Eileen White, @idikic.bsky.social and Sharon Tooze- Registration is open: link⬇️ www.grc.org/autophagy-in...

Structural and cell biology NPG publication two-fer today: lysosome signaling structural biology tinyurl.com/mt3uc96k with @robzonculab.bsky.social and mitophagy initiation tinyurl.com/3rpjyfjt with @martenslab.bsky.social @lazaroulab.bsky.social and @hummerlab.bsky.social

Lecture hall with Jay Bhattacharya behind a podium introducing Carolyn Bertozzi.

Today, Nobel laureate (and former NIGMS Advisory Council member) gave an NIH-wide lecture. She enthusiastically signed the #BethesdaDeclaration.

She was introduced by NIH Director Bhattacharya...(likely slightly awkward)

1/2

Please join the chorus of voices, including my own, in support of the talented, hardworking and dedicated scientists and staff at NIH. They serve their country by deploying their training and skills to improve the health and quality of life of all Americans 🙏 🇺🇸

Online today in @nature.com - our latest study led by superstar postdoc Gilles Rademaker detailing the role of PSCK9 in driving sterol dependent metastatic organ choice in pancreatic cancer nature.com/articles/s41...
full text available here 👉 rdcu.be/em0VG and thread 👇

Fantastic MTx-Neuro seminar by Michael Ward @michael-e-ward.bsky.social, incredible science and full house! @mti-ucb.bsky.social

My advisor @baym.lol pointedly speaking with WBUR.

“I think that reason is a pretense. I think that this is an attack on Harvard as a symbol of academia in the United States.”

It was great to collaborate with @jimhurley.bsky.social on the structural-functional dissection of Arginine sensing by mTORC1 via CastiGATOR

Spectacular structure-function study of a giant quality control E3 ligase by @micharapelab.bsky.social & team!

Excited to host @brentstockwell.bsky.social for a seminar tomorrow in the UC Berkeley Molecular Therapeutics Series! If you are on campus come by for an exceptional seminar on recent advances in our understanding and targeting of #ferroptosis! 😀

Cholesterol finds its pocket in LYCHOS - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology The lysosomal transmembrane protein LYCHOS enables activation of the master growth regulator mTORC1 kinase by cholesterol. Here we summarize recent structural findings that shed light on the LYCHOS ch...

tinyurl.com/mrce6bbb Fun to write this N&V together with Regina @hrshin.bsky.social, on the several cryoEM papers that build on her discovery of the fascinating LYCHOS protein and its role in cholesterol sensing and mTORC1 regulation!

This structure is absolutely _nuts_. Lipids are captured marching through the tunnel

thank you Issam!

Our PKA-autophagy story by outstanding graduate student Ashley Segura (co-led with Rose Citron) published in @embojournal.org, dissects a deep connection between autophagy and PKA in neuronal signaling, with implications for neurological disease. Great collaboration with @manciaslab.bsky.social!

thank you for the fun interview and a wonderful visit overall Hanieh!

America will be less healthy & less safe as a result of Peter Marks' forced resignation from FDA. He & FDA protected us from people who enrich themselves selling snake oil: unproven stem cell therapies, vaccine alternatives, other fake treatments. Thank you for all you did for public health Peter.

thank you Christian!

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...

An incredible tour de force in biochemistry and cell biology by superstar @robzonculab.bsky.social lab postdoc @aakritijain.bsky.social
LyLAP - a new lysosomal protease responsible for degrading integral membrane proteins in highly phagocytic cells like #PDAC cells.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thank you @idikic.bsky.social, it was an amazing conference, outstanding science, colleagues and hospitality!

thanks Walter!

Congrats to @jeremybaskin.bsky.social for receiving the ACS Chemical Biology young investigator award…plus organizing a fantastic session capped off with a tour de force talk on phosphatidic acid dynamics

Exciting new work by phenomenal postdoc Aakriti @aakritijain.bsky.social uncovering a key mechanism for membrane protein degradation in the lysosome. Aakriti’s research is already making a major impact, and she’s ready to launch her own lab. Departments hiring in this area—she’s one to watch!

PINK1/Parkin-dependent mitophagy caught in situ by cryo-ET! New preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... led by @kev-in-situ-et.bsky.social. This has been a long-standing goal of team @mito911.bsky.social within the @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org initiative.

Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise - Vilcek Foundation The Creative Promise Prizes are awarded to young immigrant professionals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement early in their careers.

If you are immigrant into the US and work in the biomedical sciences (like me) and are still young (not like me), please apply for the Vilcek prizes for Creative Promise founded by an inspiring immigrant couple, Marica and Jan Vilcek.

vilcek.org/prizes/vilce...

CNBC is calling it the Tesla Chain Saw Massacre.
🤣

congrats Agnel!

I'm co-organizing a Cell Symposia on Metabolites in Organellar Communication with @robzonculab.bsky.social, Kivanc Birsoy, and Allyson Evans (@cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social). It will be in Sitges May 11-13. Submit an abstract by Feb 14. Hope to see you in Spain! cell-symposia.com/metabolites-...

A human metabolic map of pharmacological perturbations reveals drug modes of action - Nature Biotechnology Mapping the metabolic effects of drugs helps define their mode of action.

Really cool work from @zampierilab.bsky.social
Congratulations all!!

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

Cell polarity proteins promote macropinocytosis in response to metabolic stress - Nature Communications Cancer cells rely on macropinocytosis to survive in a nutrient-deprived environment. Here, Lambies et al. identified various members of the cell polarity protein network as essential regulators of mac...

I'm thrilled to share our latest research, published in Nature Communications. This work highlights how pancreatic cancer cells hijack cell polarity proteins to regulate macropinocytosis and tumor metabolism, shedding light on potential therapeutic vulnerabilities.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...