Natalie Niemi
@nieminm.bsky.social
Assistant professor @WUSTLmed Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics. Mitochondria, metabolism, and cell signaling. Mom of 2. Advocate for women in science. www.niemilab.com
Pinned
Natalie Niemi
@nieminm.bsky.social
· May 29
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
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...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
MITOchats are all about early career researchers and - of course - mitochondria! Join us tomorrow for three short talks delivered by Julia Riley @joulesriley.bsky.social, Eleonora Stronati, and Joan Blanco-Fernandez @joanblanco.bsky.social. See mitotalks.org for zoom link.
December 10, 2025 at 7:49 PM
MITOchats are all about early career researchers and - of course - mitochondria! Join us tomorrow for three short talks delivered by Julia Riley @joulesriley.bsky.social, Eleonora Stronati, and Joan Blanco-Fernandez @joanblanco.bsky.social. See mitotalks.org for zoom link.
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Cell Biology of the Nucleus. This issue is being coordinated by Abby Buchwalter @abbybuch.bsky.social, working alongside Megan King @luskinglab.bsky.social.
Deadline: 5 January 2026
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/nu...
Deadline: 5 January 2026
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/nu...
December 10, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Cell Biology of the Nucleus. This issue is being coordinated by Abby Buchwalter @abbybuch.bsky.social, working alongside Megan King @luskinglab.bsky.social.
Deadline: 5 January 2026
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/nu...
Deadline: 5 January 2026
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/nu...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Disruption of protein import into mitochondria affects cellular balance and can cause disease. Work @nature shows that cells sense this defect through inter-organelle communication and a signalling role of mitochondrial targeting sequence.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A direct role for a mitochondrial targeting sequence in signalling stress - Nature
Cells can sense mitochondrial damage through signalling via an unimported mitochondrial targeting sequence.
www.nature.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Disruption of protein import into mitochondria affects cellular balance and can cause disease. Work @nature shows that cells sense this defect through inter-organelle communication and a signalling role of mitochondrial targeting sequence.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
#AminoAcidAdvent Day 4: Methionine (Met; M)
Arguably the bane of mass spectrometrists, always oxidizing and throwing off your mass. This easily remembered (1 of the 6 unique first letters) stinky essential amino acid is also often overlooked as a common off-target reaction of alkylation reagents. 😱
Arguably the bane of mass spectrometrists, always oxidizing and throwing off your mass. This easily remembered (1 of the 6 unique first letters) stinky essential amino acid is also often overlooked as a common off-target reaction of alkylation reagents. 😱
December 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
#AminoAcidAdvent Day 4: Methionine (Met; M)
Arguably the bane of mass spectrometrists, always oxidizing and throwing off your mass. This easily remembered (1 of the 6 unique first letters) stinky essential amino acid is also often overlooked as a common off-target reaction of alkylation reagents. 😱
Arguably the bane of mass spectrometrists, always oxidizing and throwing off your mass. This easily remembered (1 of the 6 unique first letters) stinky essential amino acid is also often overlooked as a common off-target reaction of alkylation reagents. 😱
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Oxidative phosphorylation complexes contain subunits encoded by both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. How do cells coordinate the synthesis and assembly of these complexes at the inner membrane? We teamed up with Martin Ott (@mitolab.bsky.social) to address this in two recent papers.
December 3, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Oxidative phosphorylation complexes contain subunits encoded by both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. How do cells coordinate the synthesis and assembly of these complexes at the inner membrane? We teamed up with Martin Ott (@mitolab.bsky.social) to address this in two recent papers.
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Reminder to apply - talk applications accepted continuously, there is no deadline. We will be seeking speakers throughout all of next year, so if you have a story on metabolism in development you're excited to share, here's the perfect place:
💥Call for Speakers💥
Hey metabolism enthusiasts!
Do you, or someone you know, dive into the fascinating world of metabolism?
🔬 We are seeking speakers for the Metabolism in Development & Physiology seminars! Showcase your work & connect with our community!
👉 Apply at:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Hey metabolism enthusiasts!
Do you, or someone you know, dive into the fascinating world of metabolism?
🔬 We are seeking speakers for the Metabolism in Development & Physiology seminars! Showcase your work & connect with our community!
👉 Apply at:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Apply to give a talk on Metabolism in Development and Physiology
docs.google.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reminder to apply - talk applications accepted continuously, there is no deadline. We will be seeking speakers throughout all of next year, so if you have a story on metabolism in development you're excited to share, here's the perfect place:
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
New preprint from the lab!!🎉
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Molecular basis for cellular compartmentalization by an ancient membrane fission mechanism
The emergence of cell compartmentalization depends on membrane fission to create the endomembrane compartments. In eukaryotes, membrane fission is commonly executed by ESCRT-III, a protein complex con...
www.biorxiv.org
December 1, 2025 at 9:09 AM
New preprint from the lab!!🎉
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Yang, Kong, Liu et al. report that homocysteine, an intermediate in methionine-cysteine #metabolism and the cause of the life-threatening disease #homocystinuria, disrupts lysosomal functions by binding to and homocysteinylating V-ATPase. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#lysosomes
#lysosomes
November 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Yang, Kong, Liu et al. report that homocysteine, an intermediate in methionine-cysteine #metabolism and the cause of the life-threatening disease #homocystinuria, disrupts lysosomal functions by binding to and homocysteinylating V-ATPase. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#lysosomes
#lysosomes
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
It's not #FluorescenceFriday but unexpectedly beautiful data should always be celebrated 💚 #PKMO -stained #mitochondria cristae in #STED
November 25, 2025 at 12:56 PM
It's not #FluorescenceFriday but unexpectedly beautiful data should always be celebrated 💚 #PKMO -stained #mitochondria cristae in #STED
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
I am looking for a PostDoc to join my group at Genentech to drive the development of proteomics technologies to fuel target and therapeutic discovery and development. Check out the link below!
careers.gene.com/us/en/job/20...
careers.gene.com/us/en/job/20...
November 25, 2025 at 12:39 AM
I am looking for a PostDoc to join my group at Genentech to drive the development of proteomics technologies to fuel target and therapeutic discovery and development. Check out the link below!
careers.gene.com/us/en/job/20...
careers.gene.com/us/en/job/20...
Niemi lab freezers, now featuring magnetic science poetry
November 24, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Niemi lab freezers, now featuring magnetic science poetry
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
🔬New Preprint Alert 🔬 How is AMPK regulated by oxidative stress? We use functional imaging to uncover spatial regulation of AMPK activity during oxidative stress by LKB1 & CaMKK2. Combining imaging with proteomics & metabolomics, we find AMPK works to promote the cellular redox response.
Spatial regulation of AMPK activity under oxidative stress requires LKB1 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.17.688926v1
November 18, 2025 at 3:56 AM
🔬New Preprint Alert 🔬 How is AMPK regulated by oxidative stress? We use functional imaging to uncover spatial regulation of AMPK activity during oxidative stress by LKB1 & CaMKK2. Combining imaging with proteomics & metabolomics, we find AMPK works to promote the cellular redox response.
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
For readers interested in therapeutic strategies based on inducing proximity between proteins, such as Halda's RIPTACs, here's a review on the field www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eQzXF
and a news story on RIPTACs www.nature.com/articles/d41...
rdcu.be/eQzXF
and a news story on RIPTACs www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Induced proximity-based therapeutic modalities - Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
Induced proximity modalities encompass monovalent and bifunctional agents, such as molecular glues and proteolysis-targeting chimeras, that induce an interaction between biomolecules to functionally m...
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
For readers interested in therapeutic strategies based on inducing proximity between proteins, such as Halda's RIPTACs, here's a review on the field www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eQzXF
and a news story on RIPTACs www.nature.com/articles/d41...
rdcu.be/eQzXF
and a news story on RIPTACs www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
We are hiring a postdoc! 🧪
▶️ Project: nucleotide metabolism (genomics & biochemistry)
▶️ Start date: spring 2026 (flexible)
▶️ More info and application: tinyurl.com/3kjrbb2x
Please share 🌏
@fbm-unil.bsky.social @dib-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social @snsf.ch
▶️ Project: nucleotide metabolism (genomics & biochemistry)
▶️ Start date: spring 2026 (flexible)
▶️ More info and application: tinyurl.com/3kjrbb2x
Please share 🌏
@fbm-unil.bsky.social @dib-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social @snsf.ch
Career Opportunities: Postdoctoral position in cellular metabolism (22584)
tinyurl.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:26 AM
We are hiring a postdoc! 🧪
▶️ Project: nucleotide metabolism (genomics & biochemistry)
▶️ Start date: spring 2026 (flexible)
▶️ More info and application: tinyurl.com/3kjrbb2x
Please share 🌏
@fbm-unil.bsky.social @dib-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social @snsf.ch
▶️ Project: nucleotide metabolism (genomics & biochemistry)
▶️ Start date: spring 2026 (flexible)
▶️ More info and application: tinyurl.com/3kjrbb2x
Please share 🌏
@fbm-unil.bsky.social @dib-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social @snsf.ch
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
TCA time!
Bibel, B., & The bumbling biochemist. (2024). Expanded TCA cycle (TriCarboxylic Acid Cycle, aka Citric Acid Cycle, aka Krebs cycle). Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Feel free to use, but please cite the bumbling biochemist if you do. Thank you and happy learning!
Bibel, B., & The bumbling biochemist. (2024). Expanded TCA cycle (TriCarboxylic Acid Cycle, aka Citric Acid Cycle, aka Krebs cycle). Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Feel free to use, but please cite the bumbling biochemist if you do. Thank you and happy learning!
November 20, 2025 at 2:09 AM
TCA time!
Bibel, B., & The bumbling biochemist. (2024). Expanded TCA cycle (TriCarboxylic Acid Cycle, aka Citric Acid Cycle, aka Krebs cycle). Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Feel free to use, but please cite the bumbling biochemist if you do. Thank you and happy learning!
Bibel, B., & The bumbling biochemist. (2024). Expanded TCA cycle (TriCarboxylic Acid Cycle, aka Citric Acid Cycle, aka Krebs cycle). Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Feel free to use, but please cite the bumbling biochemist if you do. Thank you and happy learning!
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
New preprint! We measured temperature- and pH-induced aggregation for over 18,000 natural and de novo designed protein domains!
November 19, 2025 at 9:16 PM
New preprint! We measured temperature- and pH-induced aggregation for over 18,000 natural and de novo designed protein domains!
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
We need a structural biologist to work on several CryoEM datasets. For more information, please visit: www.antonylab.org
Expertise in structure refinement and model-building are required.
Please share.
We need a structural biologist to work on several CryoEM datasets. For more information, please visit: www.antonylab.org
Expertise in structure refinement and model-building are required.
Please share.
ANTONY LAB SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Edwin Antony Lab Website
www.antonylab.org
November 18, 2025 at 7:05 PM
POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
We need a structural biologist to work on several CryoEM datasets. For more information, please visit: www.antonylab.org
Expertise in structure refinement and model-building are required.
Please share.
We need a structural biologist to work on several CryoEM datasets. For more information, please visit: www.antonylab.org
Expertise in structure refinement and model-building are required.
Please share.
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Are you looking for female speakers in CryoEM for seminars and conferences? Are you a woman in CryoEM and not yet on the ‚woman in CryoEM‘ list? Find your speakers and add/update name and affiliation! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
November 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Are you looking for female speakers in CryoEM for seminars and conferences? Are you a woman in CryoEM and not yet on the ‚woman in CryoEM‘ list? Find your speakers and add/update name and affiliation! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Biology of bridge-like lipid transfer proteins continues to be uncovered at a rather brisk pace. These things are important... Cool paper, congratulations!
Thrilled to share our latest work showing that the bridge lipid transport protein ATG2A transfers diacylglycerol (DAG), and some TAG/PA, from the ER to LDs, thereby recruiting DGAT2 to drive local TAG synthesis, promoting LD expansion while protecting ER membranes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
ATG2A-mediated DAG transfer recruits DGAT2 for lipid droplet growth - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Elhan et al. show that ATG2A acts with DGAT2, the enzyme producing triacylglycerol (TAG), in lipid droplet growth. By delivering diacylglycerol to lipid droplets, ATG2A not only fuels TAG production b...
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Biology of bridge-like lipid transfer proteins continues to be uncovered at a rather brisk pace. These things are important... Cool paper, congratulations!
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Measuring mitochondrial membrane potential
@marcliesa.bsky.social , Guillermo Martínez-Corrales et al @ibmb-csic.bsky.social comment on common misinterpretation of mitochondrial membrane potential measurements & suggest guidelines for accurate determination in cells
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@marcliesa.bsky.social , Guillermo Martínez-Corrales et al @ibmb-csic.bsky.social comment on common misinterpretation of mitochondrial membrane potential measurements & suggest guidelines for accurate determination in cells
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
November 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Measuring mitochondrial membrane potential
@marcliesa.bsky.social , Guillermo Martínez-Corrales et al @ibmb-csic.bsky.social comment on common misinterpretation of mitochondrial membrane potential measurements & suggest guidelines for accurate determination in cells
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@marcliesa.bsky.social , Guillermo Martínez-Corrales et al @ibmb-csic.bsky.social comment on common misinterpretation of mitochondrial membrane potential measurements & suggest guidelines for accurate determination in cells
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Natalie Niemi
Online now: Scale-spanning crosstalk between metabolism and information processing
Scale-spanning crosstalk between metabolism and information processing
Some core metabolites like lactate can play the role of intercellular signals in brain tissue. Barros et al. suggest that this promiscuity serves to match the energy demand of neural networks to the spatiotemporal restrictions of metabolism.
dlvr.it
November 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Online now: Scale-spanning crosstalk between metabolism and information processing