MRC MBU postdocs

Drosophila models have been highly useful in dissecting the physiological roles of PINK1 and Parkin in #mitophagy

Led by 3 talented PhD students, we wrote a review summarising recent exciting discoveries and discussed these in context of current in vitro studies

portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...

Congrats to Jan whose new paper on persulfide measurement is is out now in Nature Comms

Student mental health is in crisis — here’s how to help

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

📝 Online now - the Review "Structural transport and inhibition mechanism of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier" from Edmund Kunji (@mrc-mbu.bsky.social) and co.

#SLC54 #MPC #EnergyMetabolism #MembraneProteinStructure #StructureBasedDrugDesign

Read it here 👉 authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Congratulations to @lucialugut.bsky.social who passed her PhD with flying colours last week; and with no thesis corrections ☺️🎓👏

High heteroplasmy decreases mitochondrial ubiquitination

Bluesky, I am pleased to present to you the main product of postdoc work, published in @science.org ☝️

As it turns out, the very quality control mechanism that can remove mutant mtDNA copies is the one that maintains high mutant burden, or heteroplasmy levels

Functionally dominant hotspot mutations of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA genes in cancer Nature Genetics - Analysis of 14,106 tumor genomes highlights recurrent mutations in mitochondrial ribosomal RNA encoded within the mitochondrial genome. Mutations occur at hotspot positions and...

Excited to share our latest work in collaboration with the @edreznik.bsky.social lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social, where we describe functionally dominant mitochondrial DNA mutations in patient tumors. So, what is functional dominance in mitochondrial genetics, I hear you ask?

rdcu.be/eN1jm

Can I join please?

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Abigail Giles who was awarded the "The Richard J. Bing Award for Young Investigators" at the recent World Congress of the International Society For Heart Research in Japan.

Well done Abigail!

Unwrapping the secrets of sugar metabolism - Trinity Hall Cambridge Ever wondered why eating something sugary gives you such an energy boost? It turns out that the secret lies within our cells, specifically in tiny structures called mitochondria, often dubbed the cell...

Trinity Hall covers our discovery
www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news/unwrapp...

Molecular basis of pyruvate transport and inhibition of the human mitochondrial pyruvate carrier | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

P hacking — Five ways it could happen to you Some data practices can lead to statistically dubious findings. Here’s how to avoid them.

P-hacking

Removing outliers, using alternative statistical methods and running extra experiments are some methods that could be used to change the P-value. Be careful not to fall in this trap! Stay sceptical! Null results are a normal part of science.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Throwing a ‘spanner in the works’ of our cells’ machinery could help fight cancer, fatty liver disease… and hair loss | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Clinically translatable mitochondrial gene therapy in muscle using tandem mtZFN architecture | EMBO Molecular Medicine imageimageEfficient mitochondrial gene therapy is achieved with a novel tandem zinc finger nuclease (mtZFN) architecture delivered via adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors, significantly reducing mutation loads in muscle tissue and rescuing ...

Huge congrats to Pavel Nash on publishing his PhD work! 🎉 We showcase a safer mtDNA gene therapy using a novel mtZFN architecture compatible with a single AAV. Thanks to the entire team! @mrc-mbu.bsky.social
@mbu-postdocs.bsky.social #MitochondrialDisease #mtDNA
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Well done everyone! 😎

First map of human brain mitochondria is ‘groundbreaking’ achievement Hundreds of cubes of human brain tissue help scientists to chart the energy-making capabilities of various brain regions.

Mitochondria differ in type and density in different parts of the brain. For example, the evolutionarily oldest brain regions have a lower density of mitochondria than newer regions.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Does sharing first authorship on a paper carry a penalty? What the research says Study dispels myth that order of names in a paper’s author list dictates perception of success.

Shared first authorship, but who gets to be first? According to this study, there is no disadvantage to sharing credit.

Weakness of the study: The test name was a gender-neutral European name. Can someone please repeat this study with female/non-European names?

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

@mrc-mbu.bsky.social all set to entertain the public @cambridgefestival.bsky.social Come and join us at CAST, Cambridge, and learn about our amazing work to understand all things #mitochondria in health and disease

Thought that only purine nucleotides could inhibit mitochondrial thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue? Edmund Kunji and coworkers @mitocarriers.bsky.social @mrc-mbu.bsky.social show that pyrimidines bind and inhibit UCP1 in similar manner
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Ergothioneine improves healthspan of aged animals by enhancing cGPDH activity through CSE-dependent persulfidation Petrovic et al. demonstrate that ergothioneine acts as an alternative substrate for cystathionine gamma-lyase, an H2S-producing enzyme, leading to an increase of protein persulfidation. The persulfida...

Glad to be a small part on this interesting paper from Milos Filipovic with actual work done by Jan Miljkovic and Alva Casey in my lab.

Ergothioneine improves healthspan of aged animals by enhancing cGPDH activity through CSE-dependent persulfidation: Cell Metabolism www.cell.com/cell-metabol...

Are vaccines safe? YouTube video by Simple Science

First of two videos I made about vaccines for kids & teens!

YouTube promotes videos with engagement, so likes/comments/shares help reach the right audience. Even if you're not the target, your support matters!

💙 Watch & boost? 🔗 youtu.be/KC42D0ZpqtE

#SciComm #Vaccines #ScienceForEveryone

How COVID 19 mRNA Vaccines Are Made and Work YouTube video by Simple Science

Second of two videos I made about vaccines for kids & teens!

YouTube promotes videos with engagement, so likes/comments/shares help reach the right audience. Even if you're not the target, your support matters!

💙 Watch & boost? 🔗 youtu.be/ScOQ2tt5HQQ

#SciComm #Vaccines #ScienceForEveryone

Simple science videos for kids and teens. Although you are not the primary target, you can help by liking and subscribing to help these videos reach more kids!

Let’s make science fun and easy for everyone!

An inherited mtDNA mutation remodels inflammatory cytokine responses in macrophages and in vivo Impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics in macrophages can drive hyperinflammatory cytokine responses, but whether this may also be caused by inherited mtDNA mutations is unknown. Here, we address this q...

📢Preprint alert! Very excited to share the first preprint from the lab spearheaded by stellar postdoc Eloïse Marques. An inherited mtDNA mutation remodels inflammatory cytokine responses in macrophages and in vivo. 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Updated list.
As more and more people join bluesky, I want to share this link again. Also, it's difficult to find everyone, so react to this message if you're a (former or current) MBU member and you're not in the list yet.

go.bsky.app/9ATZngh

I asked chatGPT to make a video:
A 2-minute YouTube video for teenagers explaining what mitochondria are, what they do and why they are special (e.g. own DNA, inherited from mother, bacterial origin).

Here is the result:

www.nextgenseqanalysis.com/videos-1/v/m...

What do you think?

Lindsey Van Haute on LinkedIn: The Case for Permanent Postdocs: Rethinking Academic Career Structures Are postdocs the overlooked backbone of academia? Despite their vital contributions, postdoctoral researchers are often stuck in precarious, temporary roles…

Are postdocs the overlooked backbone of academia? Despite their vital contributions, postdoctoral researchers are often stuck in precarious, temporary roles with limited stability or recognition.

www.linkedin.com/posts/lindse...

A science mega-programme is taking shape in the EU: what it means for researchers A new research commissioner will help to build the European Union’s next massive science scheme — with a renewed focus on innovation.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Why do some men behave badly? I think I have the answer From an early age boys are treated as though they are smarter and more talented than girls. It can lead to a damaging overconfidence

From a young age, boys are praised for speaking up, girls for staying quiet. Boys believe their views matter more. Girls learn to smile, work quietly, defer to boys, and speak only when asked. No wonder many girls lose their voice, confidence, and ambition.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Science’s ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ contest is open again! This year’s competition has a special category on artificial intelligence research or quantum science—no Ph.D. needed

Can you explain your doctoral research through interpretive dance?

The 17th annual #DanceYourPhD competition is open! Submit by 28 March for a chance to win $2000: scim.ag/3BcKi0e