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Natalie Niemi

@nieminm.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1.6K following 110 posts

Assistant professor @WUSTLmed Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics. Mitochondria, metabolism, and cell signaling. Mom of 2. Advocate for women in science. www.niemilab.com

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Natalie Niemi @nieminm.bsky.social · May 29

Very excited to share our latest work, “Mitochondrial presequences harbor variable strengths to maintain organellar function,” led by the fantastically talented @washubbsb.bsky.social graduate student Youmian Yan. A 🧵

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mitochondrial presequences harbor variable strengths to maintain organellar function

Hundreds of mitochondrial-destined proteins rely on N-terminal presequences for organellar targeting and import. While generally described as positively charged amphipathic helices, presequences lack ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Trends in Biochemical Sciences @cp-trendsbiochem.bsky.social · 16h

Online now - the Review "Interconnectivity of mitochondrial protein biogenesis and quality control" from @mitolab.bsky.social et al.

#ProteinImport #Proteaes #Proteolysis #Proteostasis

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

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Journal of Cell Biology @jcb.org · 16h

Hongli Li, Marc Fransen et al. identify PEX14 as a key link between optineurin and the autophagic machinery in #pexophagy, the selective degradation of #peroxisomes. This discovery advances our understanding of #peroxisome clearance and disease. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

#Autophagy #Organelles

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

RyanLab_TCD @ryanlab.bsky.social · 1d

Exciting study from @frisophagy.bsky.social in @chinnery in the Chinnery lab @mrc-mbu.bsky.social. Congratulations to all authors involved in the study! #mitochondria

Ubiquitin-mediated mitophagy regulates the inheritance of mitochondrial DNA mutations | Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Ubiquitin-mediated mitophagy regulates the inheritance of mitochondrial DNA mutations

Mitochondrial synthesis of adenosine triphosphate is essential for eukaryotic life but is dependent on the cooperation of two genomes: nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). mtDNA mutates ~15 times as...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Addgene @addgene.bsky.social · 1d

From reporter assays to live-cell imaging, NanoLuc® luciferase has transformed how scientists measure and monitor biology. Explore the technologies it powers — and why it’s a staple in molecular biology research.
🔗 Read the blog: https://twp.ai/4is3BI
@promegacorporation.bsky.social

blog.addgene.org

Technologies Enabled by NanoLuc® Luciferase

twp.ai

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Scott Soleimanpour @soleimanpourlab.bsky.social · 2d

🚨How do mitochondria sense and respond to metabolic stress from the environment in diabetes? 🤔

In new work out in #ScienceAdvances, we show that innate immune signaling promotes β cell compensation for metabolic stress by engaging mitophagy. 🚨1/n
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

TRAF6 integrates innate immune signals to regulate glucose homeostasis via Parkin-dependent and Parkin-independent mitophagy

TRAF6 bridges innate immune signaling to mitophagy to promote glucose control during metabolic stress.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

bioRxiv Physiology @biorxiv-physio.bsky.social · 4d

Skeletal muscle fibre type determines mitochondrial and metabolic responses to hypoxia and pulmonary inflammation. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.06.680623v1

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Victor Tatarskiy @greenrat.bsky.social · 8d

Neat trick if you polycolonal ab's suck. Incubate them with fixed cells with a KO of your protein of interest, then spin. Protocol here: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/ass...
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky

On the left - western blot of B16F10 cells wt and KO for CDK8. Our in house produced antibodies give a lot of unspecific bands. On the right same probes with antibodies preincubated with fixed CDK8 KO cells - there is a specific band and faint unspecific bands, which can be probably eliminated with increase of amount of KO cells.

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Nature Cell Biology @natcellbio.nature.com · 6d

💫NEW: @telemanlab.bsky.social & co demonstrate that #AMPK can be activated by signaling metabolite, #adenosine, under non-stress conditions during #Drosophila development. The intestine regulates adenosine levels, thus, remotely controlling wing disc AMPK activation and growth.
bit.ly/4gX6njF

Remote control of AMPK via extracellular adenosine controls tissue growth - Nature Cell Biology

Zhang et al. demonstrate that AMPK can be activated by signalling metabolite, adenosine, under non-stress conditions during Drosophila development. The intestine regulates adenosine levels, thus, remotely controlling wing disc AMPK activation and growth.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Glenn Masson @glennmasson.bsky.social · 8d

Ooohhh....GCN1 couples GCN2 to ribosomal state to initiate amino acid response pathway signaling | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

GCN1 couples GCN2 to ribosomal state to initiate amino acid response pathway signaling

During nutrient deprivation, activation of the protein kinase GCN2 regulates cell survival and metabolic homeostasis. In addition to amino acid stress, GCN2 is activated by a variety of cellular stres...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Arne Elofsson @bioinfo.se · 8d

Elaborate machinery for inserting proteins into the outer membrane of bacteria www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Elaborate machinery for inserting proteins into the outer membrane of bacteria

Bacteria in the gut use an unusual molecular apparatus to insert complex proteins into their outer membrane.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Christian Frezza @frezzalab.bsky.social · 9d

Alternatively Spliced Citrate Synthase Supports Colorectal Cancer url: aacrjournals.org/cancerres/ar...

Have a look at our views on a recent, very interesting paper on alternative splice variants of citrate synthase.

Alternatively Spliced Citrate Synthase Supports Colorectal Cancer

Metabolic changes are a major hallmark of cancer with the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle playing a central role in this process. Remodeling of the TCA cycle occurs in cancer cells to sus...

aacrjournals.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Tilly Mommersteeg @tillymommersteeg.bsky.social · 9d

More new work from the lab! @idrm.ox.ac.uk @oxforddpag.bsky.social
Do all zebrafish regenerate their hearts equally? Also featuring the Mexican cavefish☺️
Thanks to all co-authors and especially the incredibly talented DPhil student Kostas Lekkos who drove the project. #zebrafish #heartregeneration

kostaslekkos.bsky.social @klekkos.bsky.social · 9d

Do zebrafish regenerate their hearts equally? In our new paper at the @tillymommersteeg.bsky.social lab we uncovered variations in the regenerative response of 7 wt zebrafish strains leading us to identify a critical role of oxidative phosphorylation in long-term heart regeneration.
rdcu.be/eI1v5

Oxidative phosphorylation is required for cardiomyocyte re-differentiation and long-term fish heart regeneration

Nature Cardiovascular Research - Lekkos et al. show that a metabolic switch toward oxidative phosphorylation is required for cardiomyocyte re-differentiation and heart regeneration after injury in...

rdcu.be

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Natalie Niemi @nieminm.bsky.social · 11d

In all reality, getting tenure has EVERYTHING to do with you. But not in just your talents and scientific acumen, but also in your humility and willingness to share credit to those around you. This is richly deserved and I consider myself very lucky to have you as a colleague and friend. Cheers! 🍻

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Natalie Niemi @nieminm.bsky.social · 13d

Fantastic, congratulations @bradylabupenn.bsky.social!! Can’t wait to dig into this one and hope to catch up soon!

Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Dr. Donita C. Brady of Brady Lab UPenn @bradylabupenn.bsky.social · 13d

🚨 Our 4th example of metalloallosteric regulation of kinase activity. Out today in @CellReports with @KJSsci. The ER stress sensor kinase PERK needs copper to work. Without copper, PERK can’t protect cells under stress. cell.com/cell-reports/p…

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Itay Budin @ibudin.bsky.social · 25d

Very excited to share new work out today in @natchembio.nature.com on a new approach - FACES - for selectively imaging of phospholipids and other biomolecules at spatial resolutions down to individual membrane leaflets (1/n) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Leaflet-specific phospholipid imaging using genetically encoded proximity sensors - Nature Chemical Biology

An approach combining bioorthogonal chemistry with genetically encoded fluorogen-activating proteins enables subcellular imaging of phospholipids and glycans, as well as the visualization of lipid tra...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · 16d

The reality in science is that creativity is not treated as a core skill while hypothesis testing is, and that is the imbalance that we want correct through the Night Science Institute!
www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/art... www.night-science.org

The Night Science Institute Is Changing How Science Teaches Creativity

In this interview with Professors Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher, explore how night science brings creativity, ideation and collaboration back into the heart of modern science.

www.technologynetworks.com

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Slavov Laboratory @slavovlab.bsky.social · 17d

The regulation of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins is fascinating.

They are synthesized in a fully eukaryotic manner, with introns, splicing, and cytosolic ribosomes.

Yet, they are degraded by proteases that look and act bacterial.

blog.slavovlab.net/2025/09/23/m...

Mixing eukaryotic synthesis with prokaryotic degradation

The Evolutionary Balancing Act Coordinating gene regulation across two fundamentally different systems is one of the great balancing acts of life. Mitochondria embody this challenge: most of their …

blog.slavovlab.net

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Nikolai Slavov @slavov-n.bsky.social · 18d

Some proteins are primarily regulated by one mechanism: RNA abundance, translation, or clearance.

The regulation of most proteins is dominated by different regulatory mechanisms across cell types.

Gratifyingly, this complex regulation defines simple rules ⬇️

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Catalina Vasilescu, PhD @cvasilescu.bsky.social · 19d

A reversible feedback mechanism regulating mitochondrial heme synthesis | bioRxiv
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A reversible feedback mechanism regulating mitochondrial heme synthesis

Proper heme biosynthesis is essential for numerous cellular functions across nearly all life forms. In humans, dysregulated heme metabolism is linked to multiple blood diseases, neurodegeneration, car...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Henne lab @hennelab.bsky.social · 29d

A pleasure to write this short review on lipid droplets for
@jcb.org together with Will Prinz and amazing artist Emma Reynolds!

We discuss 5 pervasive questions surrounding these remarkable little lipid organelles.

doi.org/10.1083/jcb....

Lipid droplets: Open questions and conceptual advances around a unique organelle | Journal of Cell Biology | Rockefeller University Press

Henne and Prinz discuss the lipid droplet field and pervasive questions surrounding droplets and their roles in physiology and disease.

doi.org

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Natalie Niemi @nieminm.bsky.social · Sep 9

Congrats @muirlab.bsky.social and all involved! Love the tis but a scratch model - A+!

Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Muir Lab @muirlab.bsky.social · Sep 9

Super excited to share our new preprint from @cssheehan.bsky.social on how the tumor microenvironment causes drug resistance in pancreatic cancer: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Tumor nutrient stress gives rise to a drug tolerant cell state in pancreatic cancer

Cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the standard-of-care treatment for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, chemotherapy only has modest effects at improving patient survival due...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Gustavo Silva lab at Duke @thesilvalab.bsky.social · Sep 9

It is really cool to see our work being feature on the cover of the newest issue of @cp-trendsbiochem.bsky.social !

The design is great and captures the complexity of the system! I hope you enjoy the article!

Trends in Biochemical Sciences @cp-trendsbiochem.bsky.social · Sep 4

📢 Our September issue is now online!

🎨 The cover "Fine-tuning translation under stress" highlights a Review from @thesilvalab.bsky.social‬ and co in the ribosome ubiquitination code.

Cover designed by Katie Kirby from the VI4 AIR program.

Access the full issue 👉 www.cell.com/trends/bioch....

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Reposted by Natalie Niemi

Nature Metabolism @natmetabolism.nature.com · Sep 9

Cellular pan-chain acyl-CoA profiling reveals SLC25A42/SLC25A16 in mitochondrial CoA import and metabolism

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01358-yBy developing a method that allows detection of transient, low-abundance acyl-CoA species, Liu et al. provide a thorough characterization of coenzyme A dynamics and subcellular partitioning.

bit.ly

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