News

The Trk-fused gene (TFG) is involved in autophagy regulation and therefore the proteostasis and survival of B lymphocytic cells. In this paper involving lab alumna Lena Reimann, uncovered a role for TFG in lipid homeostasis, mitochondrial functions, translation, and metabolism.

Reference: Steinmetz, T. D., Thomas, J., Reimann, L., Himmelreich, A.-K., Schulz, S. R., Golombek, F., Castiglione, K., Jäck, H.-M., Brodesser, S., Warscheid, B., & Mielenz, D. (2024). Identification of TFG- and Autophagy-Regulated Proteins and Glycerophospholipids in B Cells. Journal of Proteome Research, 23(5), 1615-1633.https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.3c00713

Oxidation of protein thiol groups is a post-translational modification implicated in cellular ageing. In this collaboration with the Topf lab in Warsaw, lab member Julian Bender and alumna Ida Suppanz uncovered early oxidation targets during ageing of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a site-specific manner and showed their conservation across species. Results are available as interactive database at oxiage.ibb.waw.pl.

Reference: Jonak, K., Suppanz, I., Bender, J., Chacinska, A., Warscheid, B., & Topf, U. (2024). Ageing-Dependent Thiol Oxidation Reveals Early Oxidation of Proteins with Core Proteostasis Functions. Life Science Alliance, 7(5), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202302300

Only 13 proteins in human are encoded by the mitochondrial genome and those destined for the inner mitochondrial membrane are inserted into the membrane by the OXA1L insertase. In this joint effort of lab members Silke Oeljeklaus, Hirak Das and alumnus Alexander Schendzielorz with the groups of Peter Rehling, Sven Dennerlein and Ricarda Richter-Dennerlein in Göttingen, a novel interactor of OXA1L that is essential for the biogenesis of mitochondria-encoded proteins was identified and validated.

Reference: Poerschke, S., Oeljeklaus, S., Cruz-Zaragoza, L. D., Schenzielorz, A., Dahal, D., Hillen, H. S., Das, H., Kremer, L. S., Valpadashi, A., Breuer, M., Sattmann, J., Richter-Dennerlein, R., Warscheid, B., Dennerlein, S., & Rehling, P. (2024). Identification of TMEM126A as OXA1L-interacting Protein Reveals Cotranslational Quality Control in Mitochondria. Molecular Cell, 84(2), 345-358.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2023.12.013

Similar to eukayotes, trypanosomal mitochondria import the majority of their proteins from the cytosol, however, import processes in Trypanosoma brucei differ in many key aspects. This collaboration of lab member Silke Oeljeklaus with the group of André Schneider in Bern shows the central role of the TbTim15 protein for the function of the (only) translocase of the inner membrane complex.

Reference: von Känel, C., Oeljeklaus, S., Wenger, C., Stettler, P., Harsman, A., Warscheid, B., & Schneider, A. (2024). Intermembrane Space-Localized TbTim15 Is an Essential Subunit of the Single Mitochondrial Inner Membrane Protein Translocase of Trypanosomes. Molecular Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.15262

Thomas Morgenbrodt has been in charge of MS devices as a technical assistant since October 2023, for cooperation projects and general work in the laboratory.

In August 2023, Lakshita Sharma started in the Warscheid Lab as a new PhD - in collaboration with the Research Training Group - with her project "Maintaining Proteostasis Amid Mitochondrial Dysfunction".