-Status-Dependent Oncogenic EZH2 Activity in Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents a lethal malignancy with a consistently poor outcome. Besides mutations in PDAC driver genes, the aggressive tumor biology of the disease and its remarkable therapy resistance are predominantly installed by potentially reversible epigenetic dysregulation. However, epigenetic regulators act in a context-dependent manner with opposing implication on tumor progression, thus critically determining the therapeutic efficacy of epigenetic targeting.

WARS1 and SARS1: Two tRNA synthetases implicated in autosomal recessive microcephaly.

Aminoacylation of transfer RNA (tRNA) is a key step in protein biosynthesis, carried out by highly specific aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs). ARSs have been implicated in autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive human disorders. Autosomal dominant variants in tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase 1 (WARS1) are known to cause distal hereditary motor neuropathy and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, but a recessively inherited phenotype is yet to be clearly defined.

SEED LIPID DROPLET PROTEIN1, SEED LIPID DROPLET PROTEIN2, and LIPID DROPLET PLASMA MEMBRANE ADAPTOR mediate lipid droplet-plasma membrane tethering.

Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are interorganellar connections that allow for the direct exchange of molecules, such as lipids or Ca2+ between organelles, but can also serve to tether organelles at specific locations within cells. Here, we identified and characterized three proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana that form a lipid droplet (LD)-plasma membrane (PM) tethering complex in plant cells, namely LD-localized SEED LD PROTEIN (SLDP) 1 and SLDP2 and PM-localized LD-PLASMA MEMBRANE ADAPTOR (LIPA). Using proteomics and different protein-protein interaction assays, we show that both SLDPs associate with LIPA.

Heat stress leads to rapid lipid remodeling and transcriptional adaptations in Nicotiana tabacum pollen tubes.

After reaching the stigma, pollen grains germinate and form a pollen tube that transports the sperm cells to the ovule. Due to selection pressure between pollen tubes, pollen grains likely evolved mechanisms to quickly adapt to temperature changes to sustain elongation at the highest possible rate. We investigated these adaptions in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) pollen tubes grown in vitro under 22°C and 37°C by a multi-omics approach including lipidomic, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analysis.

Signalling Pinpointed to the Tip: The Complex Regulatory Network That Allows Pollen Tube Growth.

Plants display a complex life cycle, alternating between haploid and diploid generations. During fertilisation, the haploid sperm cells are delivered to the female gametophyte by pollen tubes, specialised structures elongating by tip growth, which is based on an equilibrium between cell wall-reinforcing processes and turgor-driven expansion. One important factor of this equilibrium is the rate of pectin secretion mediated and regulated by factors including the exocyst complex and small G proteins.

Lipid droplets in plants and algae: Distribution, formation, turnover and function.

Plant oils represent an energy-rich and carbon-dense group of hydrophobic compounds. These oils are not only of economic interest, but also play important, fundamental roles in plant and algal growth and development. The subcellular storage compartments of plant lipids, referred to as lipid droplets (LDs), have long been considered relatively inert oil vessels.

Identification of Low-Abundance Lipid Droplet Proteins in Seeds and Seedlings.

The developmental program of seed formation, germination, and early seedling growth requires not only tight regulation of cell division and metabolism, but also concerted control of the structure and function of organelles, which relies on specific changes in their protein composition. Of particular interest is the switch from heterotrophic to photoautotrophic seedling growth, for which cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) play a critical role as depots for energy-rich storage lipids. Here, we present the results of a bottom-up proteomics study analyzing the total protein fractions and LD-enriched fractions in eight different developmental phases during silique (seed) development, seed germination, and seedling establishment in Arabidopsis ().