Abdou Rachid Thiam
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abdourachidthiam.bsky.social
Abdou Rachid Thiam
@abdourachidthiam.bsky.social
@CNRS Research Director @ENS_ULM. Interested in Droplets, Metabolism, Organelles, Lipids, BioPhysics, Microfluidics & Co, 🇸🇳
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/...
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
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
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...
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
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...
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 17, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Maria Tettamanti shows that inhibition of TORC2 by the small amphipath PalmC induces the TORC2-dependent internalization of sterols. Congrats to Maria and all coworkers involved, and to EMBOj for the efficient review process: use review commons! @biology-unige.bsky.social @sciencesunige.bsky.social
Yeast cells utilize a TORC2 feedback loop for plasma membrane adaptation to mechanical stress, with increased sterol transport from plasma membrane to endoplasmic reticulum activating TORC2 signaling
Robbie Loewith, Aurélien Roux @rouxlab.bsky.social and coworkers
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
November 14, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
ORP5 controls the partitioning of phosphatidic acid between triacylglycerol and cardiolipin synthesis at mitochondria-ER-lipid droplet contact sites https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.685814v1
November 7, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
ORP5 controls the partitioning of phosphatidic acid between triacylglycerol and cardiolipin synthesis at mitochondria-ER-lipid droplet contact sites www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
ORP5 controls the partitioning of phosphatidic acid between triacylglycerol and cardiolipin synthesis at mitochondria-ER-lipid droplet contact sites
Phosphatidic acid (PA) is a central metabolic intermediate that can fuel triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis in lipid droplets (LDs) or cardiolipin production in mitochondria, but how cells partition PA b...
www.biorxiv.org
November 8, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
New paper in Science identifying adipogenin as a critical seipin regulator in LD biogenesis. So glad our lab could help a little in this monumental study. Congrats to all authors!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Adipogenin promotes the development of lipid droplets by binding a dodecameric seipin complex
The microprotein adipogenin (Adig) is predominantly expressed in adipose tissues. Here, we found that Adig interacts with seipin to form a stable, rigid complex. We present the structure of the seipin...
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Fat storage in the body relies on specialized structures called lipid droplets. In a new Science study, researchers identified the microprotein adipogenin as a regulator of adipocyte lipid droplet size, revealing a key mechanism in lipid homeostasis.

Learn more this week: https://scim.ag/4nFEGO7
November 6, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Adipogenin promotes the development of lipid droplets by binding a dodecameric seipin complex | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Adipogenin promotes the development of lipid droplets by binding a dodecameric seipin complex
The microprotein adipogenin (Adig) is predominantly expressed in adipose tissues. Here, we found that Adig interacts with seipin to form a stable, rigid complex. We present the structure of the seipin...
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
#MembraneTraffickers! Our next online seminar is this Thursday, Nov 6 at 5 PM CEST!
We’ll hear from @agatawitkowska.bsky.social on mechanical control of neurotransmission and @abdourachidthiam.bsky.social on lipid storage mechanisms in health and disease.
Spread the word and join the discussion!
November 3, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Excited to share our study out in @natcellbio.nature.com! Led by @mikelangelipid.bsky.social, we identify the first #LipidDroplet lipid quality control pathway: LD-localized FSP1 protects stored lipids from oxidative damage and prevents LD-initiated #ferroptosis.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FSP1-mediated lipid droplet quality control prevents neutral lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis - Nature Cell Biology
Lange et al. identify a lipid droplet quality control pathway in which FSP1 safeguards stored neutral lipids from lipid peroxidation, thereby preventing the induction of ferroptosis.
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Calling all #Membrane enthusiasts!
Our #MembraneTrafficking online seminar series is back for the 2025-26 season: 8 fantastic speakers from Nov'25 to Feb'26.
The first talks are already next Thursday (Nov 6, 5pm CET) with @agatawitkowska.bsky.social and @abdourachidthiam.bsky.social !
October 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
VPS13C/PARK23 initiates lipid transfer and membrane remodeling for efficient lysosomal repair www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
VPS13C/PARK23 initiates lipid transfer and membrane remodeling for efficient lysosomal repair
Perturbations in lysosome integrity are tightly linked to neurological disorders and ageing, but the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are incompletely understood. Using an unbiased proteomic approach,...
www.biorxiv.org
October 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
🎉 Huge congrats to Maya Schuldiner from the Weizmann Institute (Israel) for the 🏅 Otto Warburg Medal 2026!
Her work on how proteins find their way to organelles and how these organelles talk to each other has reshaped how we think about cells 🧬✨
#OWM #WeizmannInstitute @elsevierconnect.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Such a worthy recipient. Maya is not only a great scientist but also a fantastic mentor and a rich source of inspiration.
🎉 Huge congrats to Maya Schuldiner from the Weizmann Institute (Israel) for the 🏅 Otto Warburg Medal 2026!
Her work on how proteins find their way to organelles and how these organelles talk to each other has reshaped how we think about cells 🧬✨
#OWM #WeizmannInstitute @elsevierconnect.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Proud to share a preprint of our paper on how bridge-like lipid transport protein VPS13C senses lysosomal membrane tension in anticipation of membrane lesions to initiate net ER-to-lysosome lipid transfer for efficient lysosomal repair www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
VPS13C/PARK23 initiates lipid transfer and membrane remodeling for efficient lysosomal repair
Perturbations in lysosome integrity are tightly linked to neurological disorders and ageing, but the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are incompletely understood. Using an unbiased proteomic approach,...
www.biorxiv.org
October 25, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
The 22nd of October marked the official start of the EMBO Members’ Meeting 2025. We are delighted to welcome 66 EMBO Members to Heidelberg, Germany, for three days of inspiring discussions, #collaboration and connection. Wishing everyone a productive and memorable #meeting!
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
amazing #lipidtime story from Tontonoz lab! Lipid scrambling and cholesterol accessibility IN T-CELLS regulates nutrient uptake in small intestine 🤯🤯

Physiology is so weird!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
T cell cholesterol transport links intestinal immune responses to dietary lipid absorption
The intrinsic pathways that control membrane organization in immune cells and their impact on cellular functions are poorly defined. We found that the nonvesicular cholesterol transporter Aster-A link...
www.science.org
October 17, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
This is a massive undertaking by a courageous group of experimentalists and computational scientists. I am honored to have contributed to this. #lipidtime chenges time zone today
🧠 The Lipid #Brain Atlas is out now! If you think #lipids are boring and membranes are all the same, prepare to be surprised. Led by @lucafusarbassini.bsky.social with Giovanni D'Angelo's lab, we mapped membrane lipids in the mouse brain at high resolution.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
October 16, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
Lipid imaging on the cover of @nature.com! Great times for lipid cell biology indeed. And a fantastic recognition of all the hard work by the team, especially Juan M. Iglesias-Artola and Kristin Böhlig (who made the cover). Link to article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 9, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
#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
October 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
We look forward to hearing feedback from the community on our #preprint where we used #NETosis as a platform to show that chromatin decompaction inside the nucleus directly regulates cell mechanics. This work identifies long-range biophysical impacts of chromatin in mammalian cells.
Chromatin is a long-range force generator that regulates plasma membrane tension and cell integrity independently of gene expression https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.02.680155v1
October 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Abdou Rachid Thiam
🌟 Thrilled to share that my lab’s first publication is now out in @natmetabolism.nature.com. Congrats to the team 🎉

🧠 We discovered that neurons use endogenous fatty acids as an energy fuel, challenging long-standing models of sugars being the exclusive energy source for neurons. 1/3
October 1, 2025 at 4:11 AM