White adipocytes contain two mitochondrial fractions: cytoplasmic mitochondria (CMw) and peridroplet mitochondria (PDMw). The formation of PDMw is partially regulated by perilipin 1 (PLIN1). CMw is responsible for β-oxidation, whereas PDMw is associated with diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) and contributes to the supply of triglycerides to lipid droplets. The role of mitochondria in white adipocytes (WAs) has not been fully explored. A recent study revealed that brown adipocytes contain functionally distinct mitochondrial fractions, cytoplasmic mitochondria, and peridroplet mitochond ..read more

Lipase is an enzyme useful in processing oils and fats. Here, we use protein engineering to characterize amino acid residues near the active center that contribute to lipase activity. The space created by substituting one amino acid significantly enhanced interesterification activity. Our study provides new insights into the design of lipases with desirable interesterification activity. Lipases with high interesterification activity are important enzymes for industrial use. The lipase from Burkholderia stagnalis (BsL) exhibits higher interesterification activity than that from Burkholderia p ..read more

Alginate-modifying enzymes are promising for tailoring alginate for further applications in food additives, pharmaceuticals, and biomedical materials. Our work provided a structural basis for substrate binding of the bifunctional alginate epimerase AlgE3. Besides, the enzymatic activity profiles of AlgE3 combined with structural and hydrodynamic properties explained the preference for substrates with different chain lengths and requirement of calcium ions. Among the epimerases specific to alginate, some of them in Azotobacter genera convert β-d-mannuronic acid to α-l-guluronic acid but also ..read more

Cover illustration Cryo-EM reconstruction of the Slo1 potassium channel bound by its auxiliary subunit γ1 which assists in bypassing voltage regulation. This figure refers to the article by Redhardt et al ..read more

We found that female Mul1-deficient mice are infertile and their oocytes contain high reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations. After fertilization, Mul1-deficient embryos showed a DNA damage response (DDR) and abnormal preimplantation embryogenesis, which was rescued by N-acetyl-l-cysteine addition and ROS depletion. These observations clearly demonstrate that loss of Mul1 in oocytes increases ROS concentrations and triggers DDR, resulting in abnormal preimplantation embryogenesis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are associated with oocyte maturation inhibition, and N-acetyl-l-cysteine (N ..read more

MTS1338 is an infection-induced small RNA found in pathogenic mycobacterial strains. It is highly accumulated in response to numerous stresses. Herein, we investigated how MTS1338 is regulated at the transcriptional level. Our findings reveal the interplay of DosR (a mycobacterial dormancy regulator) and PhoP (which regulates low pH-inducible genes) at the promoter region of the MTS1338 gene during transcriptional activation. MTS1338, a distinctive small RNA in pathogenic mycobacteria, plays a crucial role in host–pathogen interactions during infection. Mycobacterial cells encounter heteroge ..read more

In this Perspective review, we offer a comprehensive overview of computational studies on lipid droplets biology, with a specific focus on molecular dynamics simulations. Revisiting key contributions, we highlight the pivotal role of these studies in advancing our understanding of lipid droplets, for both mechanistic and physiological aspects. Lipid droplets (LDs) are ubiquitous intracellular organelles with a central role in multiple lipid metabolic pathways. However, identifying correlations between their structural properties and their biological activity has proved challenging, owing to ..read more

iChIP-SILAC identified DNMT1 and epigenetic regulators as proteins potentially interacting with a region of the p16 INK4A gene that is CpG-methylated in one allele in HCT116 cells. Among the identified proteins, DDX24 contributed to the CpG methylation by regulating the protein level of DNMT1. iChIP is useful to identify proteins binding to a target locus. Allele-specific epigenetic events regulate the expression of specific genes such as tumor suppressor genes. Methods to biochemically identify epigenetic regulators remain limited. Here, we used insertional chromatin immunoprecipitation (iC ..read more

A standard approach to studying aging in mice typically involves the isolation of hematopoietic stem cells from two cohorts, namely young and old, from which total RNA is extracted, sequenced, and analyzed through R-based standard protocols. The lists of differentially expressed genes resulting from these analyses are usually interpreted with Gene Ontology classifications. Globally, the human population is aging, with an increased proportion of people in “old age” (over 60 years). This trend leads to a growing demand in aging research, stimulating studies in animal models such as mice, fish ..read more

We uncovered a novel pathway of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) metabolism for uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) biosynthesis via Ngk1 kinase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. GlcNAc phosphorylation by Ngk1 promotes UDP-GlcNAc synthesis and compensates for the hexosamine pathway, a known pathway for UDP-GlcNAc synthesis. The increased synthesis of UDP-GlcNAc by Ngk1 enhances chitin production. N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is an important structural component of the cell wall chitin, N-glycans, glycolipids, and GPI-anchors in eukaryotes. GlcNAc kinase phosphorylates GlcNAc into Glc ..read more