Catalina Vasilescu, PhD

A photo of a Nobel medal

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance"

Stay tuned for more.
#NobelPrize

PP2A-B55α activates TFEB upon mitochondrial damage to support Parkin-dependent mitophagy.

In this week's mitophagy news 🪫🗑️

biomed.news/bims-tofagi/...

⚡The PP2A-B55α phosphatase is a master regulator of mitochondrial degradation and biogenesis⚡
-Mitochondrial ROS triggers mitophagy through activating the DNA damage response signaling pathway

Thanks to @biomednews.bsky.social

Engineering Artificial Mitochondria with Self‐Amplifying Proton Generation for Autonomous Energy Supply and Metabolic Coupling in Artificial Cells A mitochondria-mimicking ATP generator improves the enzyme instability of enzyme-based artificial mitochondria and eliminates the toxicity of H2O2 via quantitative enzyme co-compartmentalization. The....

Engineering Artificial Mitochondria with Self‐Amplifying Proton Generation for Autonomous Energy Supply and Metabolic Coupling in Artificial Cells - Fu - Angewandte Chemie International Edition - Wiley Online Library
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

MTCH2 modulates CPT1 activity to regulate lipid metabolism of adipocytes - Nature Communications Increasing mitochondrial oxidative capacity and energy expenditure holds therapeutic potential for obesity and metabolic disorders. Here, the authors identify MTCH2 as a mitochondrial regulator of fatty acid oxidation via interaction with CPT1.

MTCH2 modulates CPT1 activity to regulate lipid metabolism of adipocytes | Nature Communications
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A mouse model of MEPAN demonstrates a role for mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis in iron–sulfur cluster and supercomplex formation | PNAS MEPAN (Mitochondrial Enoyl CoA Reductase Protein-Associated Neurodegeneration) is an early-onset movement disorder characterized by ataxia, dysarth...

A mouse model of MEPAN demonstrates a role for mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis in iron–sulfur cluster and supercomplex formation | PNAS
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Cardiolipin dynamics promote membrane remodeling by mitochondrial OPA1 - Nature Communications This study reveals how cardiolipin governs mitochondrial morphology by modulating the activity of human OPA1 and how its replacement by monolyso-cardiolipin, as observed in Barth syndrome, impacts mitochondrial membrane-shaping mechanisms.

Cardiolipin dynamics promote membrane remodeling by mitochondrial OPA1 | Nature Communications
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📢Last weeks #immunometabolism discoveries @biomednews.bsky.social ⬇️⬇️⬇️

biomed.news/bims-imicid/...

Highlight:
Acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1 inhibition increases regulatory T-cell metabolism and graft-vs-host disease treatment efficacy via mitochondrial fusion

DDHD2 provides a flux of saturated fatty acids for neuronal energy and function - Nature Metabolism Saber et al. show that the lipase DDHD2 provides endogenous saturated fatty acids to support fatty acid oxidation and energy production, proteostasis and membrane trafficking balance.

#MitochondrialDisease papers from #week40! 📚 💚
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...

@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social

A few highlights below! 👇

DDHD2 provides a flux of saturated fatty acids for neuronal energy and function
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

a woman in a red and white striped shirt is throwing papers into the air ALT: a woman in a red and white striped shirt is throwing papers into the air

#Autophagy and #mTOR papers from last week, enjoy thanks to @biomednews.bsky.social pre-selection engine. DM them if you want your own personalised feed.

biomed.news/bims-auttor/...

Happy Sunday egg-ficionados! Here come the latest papers on #oocyte cell biology:

biomed.news/bims-cebooc/...

Highlight: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41027914/

Thanks @biomednews.bsky.social for preselecting! #cebooc

Confocal microscopy photo showing neurons and microglia

👻 "Dark Forest Within" 🧠
What if the brain is a creepy forest? Our neurons are the 🌲, old (as old as we are!), and without mobility. Suddenly, comes the microglia, our brain's immune cells. Everything lights up when they move around.
🟢microglia🟣neurons
#FluorescenceFriday 🎃

This week's selection of articles and #preprints on #proteostasis thanks to @biomednews.bsky.social -- biomed.news/bims-proteo/...

Highlight: Translation landscape of stress granules www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Good Sunday, all. Here is a wonderful selection of papers in #cancermetabolism and #mitochondrialbiology ready for you! biomed.news/bims-camemi/... @biomednews.bsky.social #keepreading

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit. -Baltasar Gracián

👉 Which of these lessons resonates most with you in your own work?

4️⃣ Technology evolves faster than funding cycles
Nucleic acid therapies, multi-omics, AI: the tools move fast. Funding and regulation struggle to keep pace.

5️⃣ Hope matters as much as science
Science provides possibilities. Hope keeps patients and researchers moving forward together.

2️⃣ Patients drive urgency
Behind every dataset is a family waiting for answers. They remind us why timelines matter.

3️⃣ Small datasets, big challenges
Rare diseases often mean small cohorts - but that makes rigorous science and creative methods even more critical.

5 Lessons from Studying Rare Genetic Disorders 🧬💡

Working in the field of rare diseases has taught me lessons that go far beyond the lab:

1️⃣ Collaboration is everything
Progress doesn’t happen in isolation. Scientists, clinicians, patients, and biotech teams must work together.

Congratulations 🎊

Jane Goodall, one of my inspirations to study biology. What a big loss for humanity! RIP

@mitogene.bsky.social we are looking forward to your presentation at #MitoCellFate in Malta!
Please share this with your followers to let them know the Earlybird & Talk submission deadline is fast approaching - Monday 10 November.
Register & Submit here: bit.ly/46TS4Ii

Good candidate for antisense oligo-based correction!

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#AcademicSky #PhDchat #Postdoc

Cryo-mtscATAC-seq for single-cell mitochondrial DNA genotyping and clonal tracing in archived human tissues High-throughput clonal tracing of primary human samples relies on naturally occurring barcodes, such as somatic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations detected via single-cell ATAC-seq (mtscATAC-seq). Fr...

Cryo-mtscATAC-seq for single-cell mitochondrial DNA genotyping and clonal tracing in archived human tissues | bioRxiv
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mitochondria‐Localized Nestin Protects Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Senescence by Maintaining Cristae Structure and Function Nestin localizes to the mitochondrial IMS through its MTS and the TOM20 import machinery. Within the mitochondria, Nestin interacts with Mic60 via its C-terminal Tail3 domain. Loss of mitochondrial N....

Mitochondria‐Localized Nestin Protects Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Senescence by Maintaining Cristae Structure and Function - Chen - Advanced Science - Wiley Online Library
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Herbal terpenoids activate autophagy and mitophagy through modulation of bioenergetics and protect from metabolic stress, sarcopenia and epigenetic aging - Nature Aging Using a zebrafish-based screen, Civiletto and colleagues identify the herb-derived metabolites thymol and carvacrol as activators of autophagy and mitophagy, demonstrating their therapeutic potential in C. elegans and mouse models.

Herbal terpenoids activate autophagy and mitophagy through modulation of bioenergetics and protect from metabolic stress, sarcopenia and epigenetic aging | Nature Aging

www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Bmal1 deletion alters mitochondrial microstructure and function in mouse cone photoreceptors Biochemistry; Cell biology; Specialized functions of cells

Bmal1 deletion alters mitochondrial microstructure and function in mouse cone photoreceptors: iScience
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Huntington’s disease treated for first time using gene therapy Preliminary results from a small trial offer the clearest evidence yet that the brain disease’s progression can be slowed.

Huntington’s disease treated for first time using gene therapy
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Purine nucleotides are competitive inhibitors of apo-GOT1 The malate-aspartate shuttle (MAS) plays a key role in cellular metabolism by transferring electrons from cytosolic NADH into the mitochondrial matrix, thereby supporting oxidative phosphorylation, in...

Purine nucleotides are competitive inhibitors of apo-GOT1 | bioRxiv
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Ribonucleotide incorporation into mitochondrial DNA drives inflammation - Nature Imbalanced nucleotide metabolism leads to age- and mtDNA-dependent inflammatory responses and senescence-associated secretory phenotype in senescence.

#MitochondrialDisease papers from #week39! 📚 👇
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...

@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @mitoscientists.bsky.social

A few highlights below!

Sensory neurons drive pancreatic cancer progression through glutamatergic neuron-cancer pseudo-synapses @cp-cancercell.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...