Abdou Rachid Thiam
@abdourachidthiam.bsky.social
@CNRS Research Director @ENS_ULM. Interested in Droplets, Metabolism, Organelles, Lipids, BioPhysics, Microfluidics & Co, 🇸🇳
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Structure of the adaptor protein 4 (AP-4) complex revealed! AP-4 exists in a dynamic equilibrium between closed and open conformations in solution. ARF1 does not shift this equilibrium but is required—together with cargo—for membrane recruitment. rdcu.be/e1ozM
January 29, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Structure of the adaptor protein 4 (AP-4) complex revealed! AP-4 exists in a dynamic equilibrium between closed and open conformations in solution. ARF1 does not shift this equilibrium but is required—together with cargo—for membrane recruitment. rdcu.be/e1ozM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Huge congrats to @manuelthery.bsky.social and all the Cytomorpho lab. The "Living Architectures" performance at @museeorsay.bsky.social was breathtakingly beautiful
January 25, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Huge congrats to @manuelthery.bsky.social and all the Cytomorpho lab. The "Living Architectures" performance at @museeorsay.bsky.social was breathtakingly beautiful
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
I’ll soon share a call for a postdoc at Institut Jacques Monod (Paris) on fundamental mechanisms of membrane traffic and protein/collagen secretion in health and disease. Please get in touch if interested.
January 23, 2026 at 10:59 AM
I’ll soon share a call for a postdoc at Institut Jacques Monod (Paris) on fundamental mechanisms of membrane traffic and protein/collagen secretion in health and disease. Please get in touch if interested.
New preprint from the lab! Triglycerides act like salt on ice: they solubilize cholesterol esters and drive lipid droplet growth. The TG/CE ratio shapes both droplet size and proteome, mirroring lipoprotein organization.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 23, 2026 at 10:31 AM
New preprint from the lab! Triglycerides act like salt on ice: they solubilize cholesterol esters and drive lipid droplet growth. The TG/CE ratio shapes both droplet size and proteome, mirroring lipoprotein organization.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Triglyceride/Cholesterol Ester Ratio Encodes Lipid Droplet Size and Diversity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.21.700800v1
January 21, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Triglyceride/Cholesterol Ester Ratio Encodes Lipid Droplet Size and Diversity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.21.700800v1
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
The work by @danialv.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org with a few changes after peer-review. Have a look if you are interested in lipid transport by bridge lipid transfer proteins (BLTPs)...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
January 22, 2026 at 2:18 PM
The work by @danialv.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org with a few changes after peer-review. Have a look if you are interested in lipid transport by bridge lipid transfer proteins (BLTPs)...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Guillaume Pernollet shows that epithelial cells adjust their shape to locally flatten, forming scutoids for any geometry, changing our view of cell packing. Thanks to all! @clairedessalles.bsky.social @juanmagararc.bsky.social @sciencesunige.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 20, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Guillaume Pernollet shows that epithelial cells adjust their shape to locally flatten, forming scutoids for any geometry, changing our view of cell packing. Thanks to all! @clairedessalles.bsky.social @juanmagararc.bsky.social @sciencesunige.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
LLOMe has long been used to study lysosomal damage, yet how it works has remained a mystery.
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
January 20, 2026 at 10:01 AM
LLOMe has long been used to study lysosomal damage, yet how it works has remained a mystery.
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
Using cryo-electron tomography, we show it forms amyloid structures inside lysosomes that mechanically rupture membranes – revealing a new paradigm for lysosomal failure.
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#CryoET
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Such a pleasure to write this review on #LipidDroplet heterogeneity, dynamics and #organelle interactions with Mike @hennelab.bsky.social ! Thank you to the editorial team @natrevmcb.nature.com and to Yoni Malis for assistance with draft illustrations
New Online! Heterogeneity, dynamics and organelle interactions of lipid droplets
Heterogeneity, dynamics and organelle interactions of lipid droplets
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Published online: 15 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41580-025-00945-xLipid droplets have key roles in energy storage and lipid metabolism. This Review discusses tools used for assessing lipid droplet heterogeneity, and how their heterogeneous composition and interactions with other organelles influence physiology and contribute to disease.
dlvr.it
January 16, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Such a pleasure to write this review on #LipidDroplet heterogeneity, dynamics and #organelle interactions with Mike @hennelab.bsky.social ! Thank you to the editorial team @natrevmcb.nature.com and to Yoni Malis for assistance with draft illustrations
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Happy to finally share the amazing results of our long-term collaboration with Karin Reinisch’s lab on how bridge lipid-transfer proteins (BLTPs) cooperate with partner proteins to orchestrate lipid delivery. A quick thread (1/7)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 12, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Happy to finally share the amazing results of our long-term collaboration with Karin Reinisch’s lab on how bridge lipid-transfer proteins (BLTPs) cooperate with partner proteins to orchestrate lipid delivery. A quick thread (1/7)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Thrilled to share our latest study, led by @reikatei.bsky.social, in @natchembio.nature.com! We began by asking a simple question—how do cells know if they have too much of a lipid in a particular membrane, and how do they respond to rectify this imbalance?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
More info 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
More info 👇
Membrane editing with proximity labeling reveals regulators of lipid homeostasis - Nature Chemical Biology
Coupling an optogenetic lipid-modifying enzyme with proximity labeling reveals protein networks and mechanisms regulating lipid homeostasis in the membranes of target organelles.
www.nature.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Thrilled to share our latest study, led by @reikatei.bsky.social, in @natchembio.nature.com! We began by asking a simple question—how do cells know if they have too much of a lipid in a particular membrane, and how do they respond to rectify this imbalance?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
More info 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
More info 👇
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Registration is open for the FASEB #LipidDroplet meeting in Scottsdale, July 26-30! This is THE premier North American conference on LDs, you do not want to miss it!
Interested in lipids? Join us @ the 2026 FASEB Lipid Droplet: From Mechanisms to Disease Conference (July 26-30, Scottsdale, AZ). Registration is now open!
events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-...
We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!
events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-...
We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!
January 6, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Registration is open for the FASEB #LipidDroplet meeting in Scottsdale, July 26-30! This is THE premier North American conference on LDs, you do not want to miss it!
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Interested in lipids? Join us @ the 2026 FASEB Lipid Droplet: From Mechanisms to Disease Conference (July 26-30, Scottsdale, AZ). Registration is now open!
events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-...
We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!
events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-...
We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!
January 6, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Interested in lipids? Join us @ the 2026 FASEB Lipid Droplet: From Mechanisms to Disease Conference (July 26-30, Scottsdale, AZ). Registration is now open!
events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-...
We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!
events.faseb.org/event/Lipid-...
We are co-locating with the FASEB Phospholipids SRC! Register for one to enjoy BOTH meetings!
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Happy new year! I've so enjoyed the end-of-year lists of people's favorite papers from 2025, so I made a list of 16 #lipidtime studies from 2025 that I found interesting. Here they are in no particular order (please add more if you would like!), and here's to much more exciting science in 2026! 🧪
January 5, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Happy new year! I've so enjoyed the end-of-year lists of people's favorite papers from 2025, so I made a list of 16 #lipidtime studies from 2025 that I found interesting. Here they are in no particular order (please add more if you would like!), and here's to much more exciting science in 2026! 🧪
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
MOSPD3 mediates the ER recruitment of ATG2A to promote autophagy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
MOSPD3 mediates the ER recruitment of ATG2A to promote autophagy
ATG2A transfers glycerophospholipids from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to support expansion of the isolation membrane at ER membrane contact sites. While a role for ATG18/WIPI4 in targeting ATG2A to...
www.biorxiv.org
January 4, 2026 at 5:56 PM
MOSPD3 mediates the ER recruitment of ATG2A to promote autophagy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
To all lipid-curious cell biologists: check out this comprehensive overview of lipid-based methods by @gerryhammond.bsky.social and colleagues in @jcb.org — a school of Babel fish for #lipidtime:
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
The cell biologist’s guide to detecting and modulating membrane phospholipids | Journal of Cell Biology | Rockefeller University Press
Worcester et al. describe a suite of molecular tools and approaches that can be used to probe and experimentally study lipids.
rupress.org
January 3, 2026 at 12:30 PM
To all lipid-curious cell biologists: check out this comprehensive overview of lipid-based methods by @gerryhammond.bsky.social and colleagues in @jcb.org — a school of Babel fish for #lipidtime:
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Latest preprint from our lab reports that the distinct pH of anterograde (less acidic) and retrograde (more acidic) lysosomal vesicles in the axon depends on assembly of the V1 and V0 domains of the vacuolar H+ ATPase, mediated by the metazoan RAVE complex www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 23, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Latest preprint from our lab reports that the distinct pH of anterograde (less acidic) and retrograde (more acidic) lysosomal vesicles in the axon depends on assembly of the V1 and V0 domains of the vacuolar H+ ATPase, mediated by the metazoan RAVE complex www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH.
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
Organelles harbour pH gradients https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.694065v1
December 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH.
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
💥I am excited to present our first research paper from the lab about caveolae lipid trafficking 🎉 Led by my fantastic PhD candidate @estherocket.bsky.social
Here we looked into caveolae mediated dietary lipid uptake and how this process is mechanistically facilitated 👇 1/n
Here we looked into caveolae mediated dietary lipid uptake and how this process is mechanistically facilitated 👇 1/n
Lipid-induced Caveolin1-Lipid droplet trafficking is associated with lipid droplet growth https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.10.693432v1
December 11, 2025 at 7:08 AM
💥I am excited to present our first research paper from the lab about caveolae lipid trafficking 🎉 Led by my fantastic PhD candidate @estherocket.bsky.social
Here we looked into caveolae mediated dietary lipid uptake and how this process is mechanistically facilitated 👇 1/n
Here we looked into caveolae mediated dietary lipid uptake and how this process is mechanistically facilitated 👇 1/n
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Great seminar today at Institut Pasteur by Dr. @abdourachidthiam.bsky.social (ENS Paris): “From the physics to the cell biology of fat storage.” He presented a beautiful integration of physics and cell biology to explain how lipid droplets are born at the ER and how ATG2 support their growth 🤩
December 3, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Great seminar today at Institut Pasteur by Dr. @abdourachidthiam.bsky.social (ENS Paris): “From the physics to the cell biology of fat storage.” He presented a beautiful integration of physics and cell biology to explain how lipid droplets are born at the ER and how ATG2 support their growth 🤩
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Your periodic reminder that science is not done by a few selected "stars scientists". Science is done by hundred of thousands. Siloed money mean a few flashy discoveries and a lot of waste. Want to change things? Make funding accessible and stop funding calls with less than 2% success rate.
· #AcademicSky ·
The European Research Council is launching €7m Plus Grants for ambitious, long‑term research — open to researchers at any career stage but limited to about 30 awards; current ERC grantees and applicants are ineligible, reports @clanicholson.bsky.social.
The European Research Council is launching €7m Plus Grants for ambitious, long‑term research — open to researchers at any career stage but limited to about 30 awards; current ERC grantees and applicants are ineligible, reports @clanicholson.bsky.social.
ERC’s new €7m Plus Grants open to researchers at any career stage - Research Professional News
European Research Council president describes scheme as part attempt to lure US talent
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Your periodic reminder that science is not done by a few selected "stars scientists". Science is done by hundred of thousands. Siloed money mean a few flashy discoveries and a lot of waste. Want to change things? Make funding accessible and stop funding calls with less than 2% success rate.
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Thrilled to share that the work from @cristianrocharoa.bsky.social, identifying TMEM170 proteins as lipid scramblases that associate with bridge lipid transporters, is now out in @natsmb.nature.com
Unexpectedly, the scrambling pathway does not "feed" directly into the BLTP cavity...
rdcu.be/eRSst
Unexpectedly, the scrambling pathway does not "feed" directly into the BLTP cavity...
rdcu.be/eRSst
November 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Thrilled to share that the work from @cristianrocharoa.bsky.social, identifying TMEM170 proteins as lipid scramblases that associate with bridge lipid transporters, is now out in @natsmb.nature.com
Unexpectedly, the scrambling pathway does not "feed" directly into the BLTP cavity...
rdcu.be/eRSst
Unexpectedly, the scrambling pathway does not "feed" directly into the BLTP cavity...
rdcu.be/eRSst
And the saga continues! Our collaborative work with outstanding Justin Korfhage & Thomas Melia’s lab in PNAS shows that ATG2A transfers triglycerides and does so bidirectionally! An exciting twist in our understanding of lipid transport.
Definitely worth a deep read:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Definitely worth a deep read:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 27, 2025 at 10:41 AM
And the saga continues! Our collaborative work with outstanding Justin Korfhage & Thomas Melia’s lab in PNAS shows that ATG2A transfers triglycerides and does so bidirectionally! An exciting twist in our understanding of lipid transport.
Definitely worth a deep read:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Definitely worth a deep read:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Thrilled to share our new paper!
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evolution of taste processing shifts dietary preference - Nature
Calcium imaging of taste neurons and the ventral brain provides insight into evolutionary divergence of food choice in Drosophila species, supporting a role of sensorimotor processing in addition to p...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper!
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
With @tomtom-auer.bsky.social team, we asked how #evolution reshapes what animals #eat to match their ecological niches. Using pan-neuronal Ca2+ imaging, we show that the changes are in how the brain processes #taste.
Link @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
DDHD2, tied to hereditary spastic paraplegia, acts as both a triglyceride lipase and transacylase. While #lipiddroplets don't accumulate in neurons, this raises key questions about fatty acid composition and LD dynamics in these cells. Congrats to Canals & Airola teams!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
DDHD2 possesses both lipase and transacylase capacities that remodel triglyceride acyl chains | PNAS
Hereditary spastic paraplegia subtype SPG54 is a genetic neurological disorder caused
by mutations in the DDHD2 gene. Excessive lipid droplet accum...
www.pnas.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 AM
DDHD2, tied to hereditary spastic paraplegia, acts as both a triglyceride lipase and transacylase. While #lipiddroplets don't accumulate in neurons, this raises key questions about fatty acid composition and LD dynamics in these cells. Congrats to Canals & Airola teams!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...