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Troy Kervin

@meowmuir.bsky.social

450 followers 460 following 89 posts

Logician-scientist: membrane protein cryo-EM, proteolipid code, category theory proteolipid.org

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Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · Apr 3

#lipidtime The proteolipid code is the ultimate membrane model. It accommodates all observations while also being a falsifiable scientific theory that rejects the status quo (lipid rafts, picket fences, etc.)
doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Please read it.

Membranes are functionalized by a proteolipid code - BMC Biology

Membranes are protein and lipid structures that surround cells and other biological compartments. We present a conceptual model wherein all membranes are organized into structural and functional zones...

Reposted by Troy Kervin

André Nadler @nadlerlab.bsky.social · 1d

#lipidtime alert!
This preprint by Kenji Maeda (cannot find him here) & colleagues is mandatory reading by everybody with even a cursory interest in lipid biology:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Lipid Landscape of human cells

Eukaryotic cells synthesise thousands of lipid species, yet the principles that organise them across compartments remain unclear. Here we introduce PAP-SL, parallel (immuno)affinity purification coupl...

www.biorxiv.org

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

I might write a (very) short article on this... Do you think I could acknowledge you for discussions? I want to demonstrate that a membrane theorist can make accurate, falsifiable predictions based on the proteolipid code (proteolipid.org)

Proteolipid code – Bigger than the genetic code

proteolipid.org

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

I might as well agree with you there, but the question is: can it be generalized to membranes in live cells?

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

What are these considerations exactly? What makes the oil and vinegar (or isolated vesicle) case sufficiently broad for contextualizing phase separation in live cell membranes?

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

I meant to ask whether V-ATPase is still present in the system, regardless of whether it is functional. I am suggesting that it could be the V-ATPase itself, not V-ATPase activity.

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

Indeed, so both equilibrium and phase separation may simply be poor frameworks for interpreting what goes on in membranes, with the canonical definition of the latter hinged on the former.

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

Have you tried knocking out the ATPase to see whether that pattern persists?

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

That attempt to define phase separation in a non-equilibrium context is questionable. There are many systems that can reversibly switch between organizational states without involving phases.

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, I can see the nice pattern. However, are you really comfortable calling it phase separation? How do you define phase separation in a non-equilibrium system?

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 1d

Dear #lipidtime
When you write "phase separation" in a non-equilibrium context, what do you mean? If you have one, please direct me to the definition you are using.

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 2d

Have you determined that this occurs in the absence of the fluorescent proteins?

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Nature @nature.com · 3d

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks”

Stay tuned for more.
#NobelPrize

A Nobel medal

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 3d

Nice. If I could be so bold as to suggest an extension of this thoroughness, I'm sure everyone would benefit if you could write some notes on the meaning of phase separation in non-equilibrium systems.

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪 @alexis-verger.cpesr.fr · 4d

😊 #womeninSTEM #womeninscience

Women in Electron Microscopy conference

er-c.org/index.php/co...

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Nature @nature.com · 3d

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating quantum physics on the macroscopic scale

go.nature.com/3WnEUhE

Groundbreaking quantum-tunnelling experiments win physics Nobel

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis discovered quantum physics on a macroscopic scale, paving the way for quantum computing.

Reposted by Troy Kervin

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology @mrclmb.bsky.social · 5d

Providing order amongst constant traffic: #LMBResearch from Sean Munro (@cellbiol-mrclmb.bsky.social) with John Briggs (@mpibiochem.bsky.social) reveals how GOLPH3 allows COPI vesicles to distinguish between Golgi residents & ER-bound proteins.
Read more: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/protein-sort...

Reposted by Troy Kervin

RogerWagnerMDPhD @rogerwagnermdphd.bsky.social · 5d

Who says science isn’t whimsical? 😁

www.cell.com/action/showP...

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Nature @nature.com · 5d

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

A photo of a Nobel medal

Reposted by Troy Kervin

soapbot 9000 @s0ap.bsky.social · 5d

photo of a cat, from x.com/unicouniuni3

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Edward T Eng @edwardteng.bsky.social · 6d

Muyuan Chen has turned structural biology into an immersive experience with his new video game Meowtabolism, now available on Steam.
Try the demo here: store.steampowered.com/app/4045010/...
Give Muyuan feedback: steamcommunity.com/app/4045010
#ScienceGaming #StructuralBiology #CryoEM #STEMOutreach

Reposted by Troy Kervin

I'm Uni :3 @unicouniuni3.bsky.social · 6d

This is… probably a cat :3

A tuxedo cat with big round yellow eyes is sitting on a bed, with a curious expression.

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Jeremy Baskin @jeremybaskin.bsky.social · 7d

How do cells sense & respond to lipid imbalances? What happens when a disease-relevant enzyme is blocked? Shiying Huang investigates phosphoinositide lipids with the Balla lab & discovers an integrated cellular response that boosts alternate lipid synthesis pathways! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Reposted by Troy Kervin

eLife @elife.bsky.social · 8d

🌱 Using ‘compelling’ methods, including #CryoET, researchers mapped spinach thylakoid membranes at single-molecule precision, revealing how photosynthetic complexes are organised and settling long-standing debates on chloroplast architecture.
buff.ly/P8ZTl0A

Troy Kervin @meowmuir.bsky.social · 8d

Nice. Several weeks ago I posted this hypothesis on Zenodo; lipids compete for fingerprint sites to regulate protein clustering:

Kervin, T.A. Lipid antagonists regulate protein clustering. Zenodo (2025). doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

Lipid antagonists regulate protein clustering

Reposted by Troy Kervin

Science Magazine @science.org · 8d

New #ScienceTranslationalMedicine research reveals that cholesterol can disrupt signaling of the fertility-preserving medication progestin in endometrial cancer, and shows that an approved statin can restore progestin sensitivity in mice and a small patient group. https://scim.ag/3IFlwtq

Cholesterol desensitizes the response of endometrial cancer to progestin by attenuating progestin signaling

Cholesterol attenuates progesterone signaling through competitive binding of progesterone receptors.