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FEATURE Vol. 20 / No. 11 / December 2021
(A SUBJECTIVE LIST)
ALSO: 10 GIFTS FOR THE SCIENTIST IN YOUR LIFE
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CONTENTS
NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES
2 24 56
EDITOR'S NOTE BEST OF BMB IN 2021 THE JOYS OF DOING RESEARCH
Our gift to you (A subjective list) WITH UNDERGRADUATES
3 30 58
MEMBER UPDATE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION
7 60
IN MEMORIAM
SCIENCE IS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR
9 32 ASBMB ANNUAL MEETING
SOCIETY NEWS
33 Michel strives to be a better mentor
10 34 Belfort strikes the right balance
NEWS 35 Airola learns from failure
10 ASBMB public affairs 2021: 36 Toker recognized for ‘seminal
The year in review contributions’ to lipid biology
56
12 ‘Fatty retina’: A root cause 37 Sharpee sees many ways of looking
of vision loss in diabetes? at a tree
13 Democratizing calcium 38 Johnson wants every student
visualization to feel they belong
15 Salivary proteins may hold key 39 Bollinger built a bioinorganic
powerhouse
to targeting tick-borne diseases
40 Provost makes chemistry
16 A new way of looking at HDL
accessible
in pregnancy
41 Farese and Walther find depth
17 What’s growing in your mouth
in a droplet
might change with your health
42 Wang’s work is fueled by interest
18 From the journals
in cells
43 Smith unravels secrets of nature’s
catalysts
58
44 Telomerase studies led Collins
to discoveries in genetic elements
45 Fuchs goes boldly where no stem
cell biologist has gone before
12
46 Taylor’s career began as med
school detour
47 Boothroyd honored for Toxoplasma
gondii research
n
48 Career-development programming
at the annual meeting
51 Pubs workshop to cover images,
words and reach
17 60
52 Symposia session speakers
55 Interest groups at #ASBMB2022
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 1
EDITOR’S NOTE
Vol. 20 / No. 11 / December 2021
Our gift to you
THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
OFFICERS ANDCOUNCIL
FOR BIOCHEMISTRY MEMBERS
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Suzanne Barbour
Toni M. Antalis
President Joan Broderick By Comfort Dorn
OFFICERS COUNCIL MEMBERS
Toyou!
Charles Craik
W
Ann Stock Squire J. Booker
Gerald Hart
President-elect Matt Gentry
Victoria J. DeRose
President
Susanna
Blake Greer
Hill
hen my older sister and I were
Wei Yang
Jennifer DuBois
Secretary Audrey
AudreyLamb
Lamb about seven and six years old,
Secretary JamesM.M. Ntambi
Joan Conaway
James Ntambi respectively, what we really
Toni Treasurer
M. Antalis CeliaFelder
Takita A. Shiffer
Sumter
Treasurer Takita Felder Sumter wanted for Christmas were Tammy
Kelly Ten–Hagen
Kelly Ten-Hagen dolls. Tammy was about the same size
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS JoAnn Trejo
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ASBMB TODAY EDITORIAL as Barbie (and had almost as many
Vahe
Robert S. Bandarian
Haltiwanger ADVISORY BOARDEDITORIAL
ASBMB TODAY clothes), but she was considered a
Martha Cyert
Carla Koehler
Co-chairs, 2022 Annual Meeting ADVISORY
William BOARD
J. Sullivan
more wholesome toy for little girls.
Co-chairs, 2020 Annual Chair
Program Committee Rajini Rao
Meeting Program Committee Jeanine
ChairAmacher She had poofy hair and wore a little
Cheryl Bailey
Chair, Education
Cheryl Bailey
and Education
Professionaland
Paul Craig
Floyd “Ski” Chilton turquoise romper. We were obsessed. ASBMB Today team’s gift to you, our
Chair, René Fuanta
Henrik Dohlman
Development Committee
Professional Development My sister was the enterprising one, members and readers. We are so grate-
Danielle
Peter J.Guarracino
Kennelly
DanielCommittee
Raben
Ken Beronda Montgomery
Hallenbeck and she did a fair bit of snooping. ful for your unflagging interest and
Chair, MeetingsDaniel
Committee
Raben A. Maureen
Brian O’Flynn Rouhi A few weeks before the big day, she enthusiasm, especially over the past
Chair, Meetings
SoniaCommittee
Flores
JenMelissa Vaught
Quick–Cleveland found the coveted dolls in their hiding two years. You’ve kept us motivated
Chair, Minority Affairs Binks W. Wattenberg
Sonia Flores Brandon Roy
Committee
Chair, Minority Affairs
Binks Wattenberg
place. I wanted to be surprised, but through these months of uncertainty.
Nicole Woitowich
Committee ASBMB TODAY she insisted on showing me and then So tucked into this issue is our
Chair, Science Outreach and Qiou Wei
Susannna Greer Angela Hopp
Communication Committee
Chair, Public Outreach Executive Editor swore me to secrecy. By Christmas roundup of some of the year’s most
ASBMB TODAY
Rick Page
Committee ahopp@asbmb.org morning, I was an emotional wreck. interesting science and our annual gift
Chair, Public Affairs Comfort
Angela HoppDorn
Matthew S. Gentry
Advisory Committee Managing
Executive Editor
Editor But when we tore into our gifts, guide (does giving gift suggestions
Chair, Public Affairs
Ed Eisenstein
Advisory Committee
ahopp@asbmb.org
cdorn@asbmb.org there were no Tammy dolls to be count as a gift?). We’ve got profiles of
Chair, Membership Committee John Arnst
Comfort Dorn found. My mother figured out we’d the ASBMB’s 15 big award winners
Sandra Weller Science Writer
SusanPublications
Baserga Managing Editor
Chair, jarnst@asbmb.org
cdorn@asbmb.org unearthed them, so she took them to get you excited about the 2022
Chair, Women in Biochemistry
Committee
and Molecular Biology Laurel Oldach
Laurel Oldach back to the store and replaced them annual meeting in April in Philadel-
Lila Committee
M. Gierasch Science Writter
Editor-in-chief, JBC
Science Writter
loldach@asbmb.org with far more expensive and tasteful phia. We also offer two very different
Sandra Weller loldach@asbmb.org
A. L.Publications
Chair, Burlingame
Ed Marklin Madame Alexander dolls. You can see essays, by Adele Wolfson and Brooke
Ed Web Editor
Marklin
Editor, MCP
Committee Webemarklin@asbmb.org
Editor where I got my obsession with the Morriswood, about the rewards of
Nicholas Alex Toker
O. Davidson emarklin@asbmb.org
Allison Frick element of surprise — not to mention having undergraduates in the lab. And
Editor, JBCJLR
Editor-in-chief, Media Specialist
A. L.Kerry-Anne
BurlingameRye
Allison Frick
africk@asbmb.org my general anxiety around the giving we wrap it all up with a truly lovely
Multimedia and Social Media
Editor, MCPJLR
Editor-in-chief, Barbara Gordon
Content Manager and receiving of gifts. essay by Richard Levy on the pain and
Executive Director
Nicholas O. Davidson africk@asbmb.org
bgordon@asbmb.org December is, of course, the big rewards of a life in research.
Editor-in-chief, JLR
Stephen F. MIller month for gifts, so I’m tamping down Thanks so much for reading. I
Kerry-Anne Rye Executive Director
Editor-in-chief, JLR smiller@asbmb.org my emotions and trying to get into hope your holidays overflow with joy
the spirit. This month’s issue is the and surprises.
For information on advertising, contact Pharmaceutical
Media Inc. at 212-904-0374 or mperlowitz@pminy.com.
CORRECTIONS:
In November’s articles about symposia sessions at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting, the names
www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday of several speakers were misspelled. A corrected list of speakers starts on page 52 of this issue.
www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday
PRINT ISSN 2372-0409
PRINT ISSN 2372-0409 A sidebar in November’s feature on the ASBMB Undergraduate Poster Competition incorrectly
Articles published in ASBMB Today reflect solely the authors’ views
and not the official positions of the American Society for Biochemistry and identified Pamela Mertz of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She is chair of the ASBMB Student
Articles published in ASBMB Today reflect solely the authors’ views and not
Molecular Biology or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.
the official positions of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Mentions of products or services are not endorsements.
Chapters Steering Committee.
Biology or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. Mentions of
products or services are not endorsements.
22 ASBMB
ASBMB TODAY
TODAY DECEMBER 2021
MEMBER UPDATE
ASCB honors University in India and his Ph.D. in awards for young investigators
molecular biology at Drexel Univer- from the International Ceramide
Montgomery, Alahari sity. After postdoctoral research at the Committee.
The American Society for Cell University of North Carolina, Chapel
Biology has announced its 2021 slate Hill, he joined the faculty there. He Kadakia named
of award recipients and fellows. Two has worked at the Louisiana State
ASBMB members are on the list. University Health Sciences Center interim vice provost
Beronda Montgomery, the MSU since 2004. Madhavi Kadakia, who served as
Foundation Professor at Michigan He is a fellow of the American chair of the biochemistry and mo-
State University, will give the Mentor- Academy for the Advancement of lecular biology department at Wright
ing Keynote Lecture at the ACSB’s Sciences. State University in Dayton, Ohio,
2022 meeting. The from 2015 until June of this year, has
lecture highlights Carr moves to UW been named the university’s interim
“an individual who vice provost for research.
exemplifies mentor- Rotonya Carr, a physician–scien- The Kadakia lab works on signal-
ing by their impact tist who was until recently an assistant ing pathways in cancer research,
on the training of professor of medicine and director of focusing on the tumor protein p63.
scientists and schol- the liver metabolism and fatty liver Like the better-known p53, p63 is a
ars who belong to program at the University of Pennsyl- transcription factor. Kadakia’s research
MONTGOMERY
underrepresented vania, has moved has focused on an N-terminally
groups.” to the University of truncated protein isoform that is most
Montgomery’s lab studies photo- Washington in Se- highly expressed in epithelial tissue.
morphogenesis, or the growth and attle. Since Oct. 1, The protein is thought to act as a tu-
development responses of photo- she has headed the mor suppressor, keeping cells adhered
synthetic organisms such as plants, university’s division and preventing migration. Kadakia’s
algae and cyanobacteria to light of gastroenterology. group has described microRNAs and
cues. Simultaneously, Montgomery Carr cares for coding transcripts that p63 affects.
CARR
applies this line of thinking, investi- hepatology patients Kadakia has been associate dean of
gating how individuals perceive and and leads a lab that studies the research affairs at Wright State’s medi-
respond to their environments, to pathophysiology of fatty liver diseases. cal school since
best practices in research mentoring Her team is particularly interested 2019. According
and leadership. She is the author of a in the effects of alcohol on ceramide to a press release,
recent book, “Lessons from Plants.” metabolism and in how proteins as- as head of the
Suresh Alahari, a professor at Lou- sociated with lipid droplets affect the pandemic research
isiana State University, is a member of development of disease. task force, she was
the 2021 cohort of ASCB fellows. His After earning her M.D. at Cornell instrumental in
lab studies cancer, University and completing a residency getting researchers
with particular at Massachusetts General Hospital, KADAKIA back onto campus
focus on a protein Carr spent four years as a practicing after operations
called nischarin, physician before returning for fellow- shut down in 2020.
which they identi- ship training in gastroenterology at After receiving bachelor’s and
fied. They study Penn. She joined the faculty at the master’s degrees in microbiology at
tumor cell migra- conclusion of that three-year training the University of Mumbai in India,
tion and adhesion, period and has worked at Penn for the Kadakia earned a Ph.D. in infectious
ALAHARI
along with how next 10 years. disease and microbiology from the
microRNAs are misregulated in breast She was a member of the first University of Pittsburgh. She shifted
cancer. class of junior associate editors of the into cancer research as a postdoc at
Alahari earned a master’s degree Journal of Lipid Research and of the the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and
in human genetics from Andhra first cohort of Lina Obeid memorial conducted further research at the
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 3
MEMBER UPDATE
Cancer Institute of New Jersey. She graduates, and its University, he cloned human actin
has been on the faculty at Wright members include isoforms and investigated the differ-
State since 2002 and was promoted to ASBMB member ences between skeletal and cytoplas-
full professor in 2013. She has served and ASBMB Today mic versions of the proteins. (Prior to
as a board member for the Association contributor Isha that, he studied gene expression in the
of Medical and Graduate Depart- Verma, a postdoc, nervous system as a graduate student
ments of Biochemistry since 2018. along with 10 other at Monash University in Melbourne
graduate students and then neuronal differentiation at
VERMA
UMich honors Benore, and postdocs. Stanford.)
Gunning is a member of numer-
Verma’s group
Gunning receives ous scientific societies, including
Marilee Benore was one of three the American Society for Biochem-
University of Michigan faculty
President’s Medal istry and Molecular Biology and its
members honored Peter Gunning, a professor at the Australian counterpart, also known as
this year with University of New South Wales Medi- ASBMB, as well as the ANZSCDB
the university’s cine and Health in Sydney, Australia, and the American Society for Cell
Carol Hollenshead has received the highest honor of the Biology. He has served as president of
Inspire Award for Australia and New Zealand Society the ASBMB (Australia) and as found-
Excellence in pro- for Cell and Developmental Biol- ing editor of the journal Bioarchitec-
moting equity and ogy, its President’s Medal. The award ture. He is the former deputy dean
social change. recognizes Gunning’s career-long re- of research and head of the school of
BENORE Benore is a pro- search on the regulation and function medical sciences at UNSW and was
fessor of biochemis- of the actin cytoskeleton. the inaugural chair of the research
try and molecular biology at UM- Gunning’s lab studies the actin division at the Children’s Hospital at
Dearborn, where she studies vitamin cytoskeleton and filament proteins Westmead in Sydney.
transport using a flock of chickens called tropomyosins, which in The award consists of a medal and
with a mutation in riboflavin binding muscle cells help to build the actin– a talk presented at the recent virtual
protein. The mutation, which is lethal myosin sarcomere. ANZSCDB meeting in Melbourne.
to embryos unless supplementary Tropomyosins in
riboflavin is injected into eggs, has the nonmuscle cells can Johnson delivers
interesting secondary effect of turning affect how strongly
egg whites completely transparent. actin-binding pro-
Greenberg lecture
Benore also conducts social teins bind to actin Elizabeth Johnson, an assistant
research in women’s persistence in filaments and the professor in the division of nutritional
science, technology, engineering and activity of myosin sciences at Cornell University, deliv-
mathematics and has published peda- GUNNING motors. Because ered the 2021 Judith Greenberg Early
gogical studies as well. She is the for- the cytoskeleton Career Investigator Lecture at the
mer chair of the American Society for changes dramatically as a normal National Institutes
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s cell transforms into a cancerous cell, of General Medi-
Student Chapters subcommittee and tropomyosins are also possible targets cal Sciences in late
is a member of the society’s Women for chemotherapy, and this has led September.
in Biochemistry and Molecular Biol- Gunning to form a company develop- The lecture series
ogy Committee. ing drugs that target tropomyosins. highlights the work
In addition to honors for UM In an interview with his university’s of early-career
professors, an educational outreach press office, Gunning said, “I cannot grantees at the
organization led by grad students and believe we have gone so far in my life- JOHNSON NIGMS and was
postdocs called Developing Future time from understanding cytoskeletal named for Judith
Biologists received recognition. The organization and function through Greenberg, a former deputy director
group focuses on making develop- to drug development.” In the 1980s, of the institute who retired in 2020
mental biology accessible to under- as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford after working at the National Insti-
4 ASBMB TODAY DECEMBER 2021
MEMBER UPDATE
HHMI names new investigators
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced 29 proteins that can be incorporated into one or more
in September a class of 33 new investigators. Three of the complexes within the SWI/SNF family are found
members of the American Society for Biochemistry in over 20% of human cancers, and
and Molecular Biology were on the list. some of them serve as the key mo-
Shingo Kajimura is a professor at Beth Israel lecular drivers of select pediatric and
Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School adult cancers.
and the Broad Institute who studies the roles As a graduate student at Stanford
mitochondria-rich brown and University, Kadoch found that these
beige adipose cells play in organ- proteins are altered in cancers, af-
ismal metabolism. These tissues fecting oncogenic gene expression.
are well known to metabolize fat KADOCH She later joined the faculty at Dana–
to generate heat; Kajimura’s lab Farber, where her lab now works on
of clinicians and basic scientists disruption of SWI/SNF complexes and recently solved
has shown that they can do more. the structure of one multisubunit SWI/SNF complex
Beige cells can modulate blood and its nucleosome substrate.
KAJIMURA sugar and circulation of other Vincent Tagliabracci is an associate professor at
metabolites in a way that suggests the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
implications for diabetes. Kajimura is also interested who is interested in discovering novel kinases. His lab
in adipose tissue development and whether it might studies unusual protein modifications, such as glu-
be possible to reprogram white adipose cells, which tamylation and AMPylation, by proteins that resemble
store energy, into brown or beige cells, which are kinases. They also have a related line of research into
more metabolically active. The lab identified a master how Legionella lipid kinases alter the host cell mem-
regulator for brown and beige fat development and brane as well as other interactions
also studies intracellular nutrient trafficking. between bacterial effectors and host
Kajimura earned his Ph.D. at the University of cells.
Tokyo. He was a postdoc at Harvard Medical School Tagliabracci earned his Ph.D. in
before joining the faculty at the University of Cali- biochemistry and molecular biology
fornia, San Francisco. He returned to Boston with at Indiana University, where he stud-
his lab in the spring of 2020. ied the role of glycogen phosphate in
Cigall Kadoch is an associate professor at the Lafora disease, a form of epilepsy. He
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and at Harvard Medi- TAGLIABRACCI conducted postdoctoral research in
cal School and a member of the Broad Institute. Her Jack Dixon’s lab at the University of
lab studies ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling California, San Diego, studying the mysterious kinase
complexes, macromolecular machines with a dozen that phosphorylates the protein casein in the Golgi
or more protein components each. The remodeling apparatus. (It turned out to be a protein called Fam20c,
complexes — also called switch/sucrose nonferment- which governs many other secreted phosphoproteins
able, or SWI/SNF, complexes — can alter DNA as well.) He joined the faculty at UT Southwestern in
accessibility and gene expression by moving nucleo- Dallas in 2015. Learn more about his work in a talk
somes along a DNA strand, changing the compac- he will present at the 2022 ASBMB annual meeting
tion and organization of chromatin. Mutations in the session on signaling.
tutes of Health for 45 years. how lipids from human milk influ- man College and earned her Ph.D.
Johnson studies how compounds ence microbial metabolism and the at Princeton University, working on
from the gut microbiome become part effects that interplay goes on to have cell-cycle transcriptomics. She was a
of host physiology. Specifically, she on infant health. postdoc with Ruth Ley and worked on
works on sphingolipids, investigating Johnson studied biology at Spel- lipid-dependent host–microbe interac-
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 5
MEMBER UPDATE
tions before starting her lab at Cornell energy imbalance as a cow mobilizes in dairy nutrition and biochemistry at
in 2018. Her NIH biography noted nutrients to feed her calf faster than Michigan State University, studying
that she “finds much inspiration from it can eat new food; this can lead a cell-free protein synthesis system
her two small gut microbiome sample to the breakdown of fats and serum isolated from udders, Beitz took a
generators.” ketosis, which can cause fatty liver faculty position at Iowa State in 1967
disease and other health problems. and has remained a professor there for
Beitz named a fellow Beitz has studied dietary changes more than 50 years. He is a mem-
and other interventions, such as the ber of numerous scientific societies,
of Sigma Xi hormone glucagon, aimed to prevent including the American Society for
Donald Beitz, a distinguished these disorders from developing. Biochemistry and Molecular Biol-
professor in the animal science and He also studies the effects of dietary ogy, the American Association for
biochemistry de- interventions on milk composition the Advancement of Science, and
partments at Iowa and collaborates on a project look- the American Society for Nutrition,
State University, ing for ways to reduce emission of of which he is also a fellow. He has
has been named a greenhouse gases such as methane served as president of both the Ameri-
fellow of the scien- and hydrogen sulfide from bovine can Dairy Science Association and the
tific research honor digestive tracts. His research has Council for Agricultural Science and
society Sigma Xi. been supported over the years by Technology.
Preventing the United States Department of Sigma Xi is a society for science
BEITZ metabolic disorders Agriculture, the Wisconsin Milk and engineering, founded in the
in dairy cows is Marketing Board and other agricul- 19th century, which today has about
a focus of Beitz’s research. Calving tural trade associations. 60,000 members in chapters around
and early milking are apt to cause an Soon after earning his doctorate the world.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Meeting Connections
Have you made a connection, forged a collaboration, gleaned insight or had another
meaningful experience at a scientific meeting? If so, tell us about it.
We invite you to write about your own meeting connection in 300–500 words.
We will publish the best stories in the March issue of ASBMB Today.
Email your submission to asbmbtoday@asbmb.org with the subject line “Meeting connections.”
Deadline extended to Dec. 30!
And there will be prizes:
FIRST PLACE: Free ASBMB membership, free registration to the 2022 ASBMB annual meeting
and a $100 Amazon gift card
SECOND PLACE: Free registration to the 2022 ASBMB annual meeting and a $50 Amazon gift card
THIRD PLACE: $25 Amazon gift card
6 ASBMB TODAY DECEMBER 2021
IN MEMORIAM
Gertrude Forte
By Courtney Chandler
G
ertrude “Trudy” Forte, former Recognition Award in 1999. She was
editor-in-chief of the Journal also the first recipient of the annual
of Lipid Research and leading American Heart Association Mentor
lipoprotein researcher, died June 9. of Women Award in 2001.
She was 84. Forte was editor-in-chief of the
Forte was born Feb. 25, 1937, Journal of Lipid Research from 1999
in Wayne, Pennsylvania. According to 2003 and was the first woman
to her obituary from the Berkeley to serve in this role. She also served
Lab, she grew up in the countryside, as director of research for Lypro
which fostered her love of plants and Biosciences, a therapeutic develop-
animals. She attended Immaculata ment company focusing on develop-
College in Chester County, Penn- ing nanotechnology for better drug
sylvania, and graduated magna cum delivery, from 2008 to 2017.
laude with a Bachelor of Arts in biol- Laura Knoff, a former senior
ogy. She received a National Science Gertrude Forte research associate who worked with
Foundation predoctoral fellowship Forte from 1992 to 2000 at Berke-
award to pursue a Ph.D. in zoology at density lipoprotein, which shuttles ley, remembered her intelligence and
the University of Pennsylvania. cholesterol from the bloodstream to mentorship.
During graduate school, Forte met the liver, changes shape as it matures. “(I was) in awe of her intellec-
and married her husband, John, now After joining CHORI, Forte tual abilities and personal stamina,”
deceased, and had two of their three moved her research in a new direction Knoff said. “I learned so much from
children. In the 1960s, Forte and her to take a more applied approach. She her. She was truly a role model for
family moved to California, and she developed and tested lipid nanoparti-
women in science and will be sorely
began her postdoctoral training at the cles to be used for drug delivery. One
missed.”
University of California, Berkeley. She of her projects focused on synthesiz-
According to a family obituary,
had her third child shortly after. ing nanoscale particles of low-density Forte was a music enthusiast. She
Forte remained at Berkeley for lipoprotein to deliver anticancer drugs played the piano and sang in the
nearly 30 years and was a senior safely and effectively to tumors in a choir of the Saint Mary Magdalen
scientist from 1978 to 2004. She then certain type of brain cancer. Parish in Berkeley. She also enjoyed
moved to the Children’s Hospital Throughout her career, Forte was supporting local performing arts and
Oakland Research Institute, where awarded more than 30 National Insti- attending live performances.
she worked from 2004 to 2017. tutes of Health research grants and co- Forte is survived by her three
During her tenure at Berkeley, published over 230 research works. children, their spouses and seven
Forte researched the roles lipids and Forte received numerous awards grandchildren.
proteins play in cardiovascular disease. and honors in recognition of her
She helped develop electron micros- research and professional accom-
copy techniques used to determine plishments, including the Lawrence Courtney Chandler
(courtneyec19@gmail.com)
the structural features of lipoprotein Berkeley Laboratory Outstanding is a postdoctoral researcher
particles and applied these techniques Performance Award in 1992, the As- at the University of Maryland,
to study serum lipoproteins from sociated Western Universities honor of Baltimore, and an industry
careers columnist for ASBMB
human samples. She also used model distinguished lecturer in 1994 and the Today. Follow her on Twitter:
systems to demonstrate how high- American Heart Association Special @CourtneyCPhd.
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 7
IN MEMORIAM
Jean Wilson William Whelan
Jean Wilson, a renowned William “Bill” Joseph Whelan,
endocrinologist, died June 13. a renowned biochemist who
Wilson was born on Aug. 26, 1932, embodied his own discovery (he
in Wellington, Texas. After graduating was, by nature, a primer), died at
from the University of Texas at Austin his Miami home on June 5.
with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry Whelan was born in Lancashire,
in 1951, he completed medical England, on Nov. 14, 1924. His
school and a residency in internal mother was a homemaker and his
medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, father, from Ireland, made skins for sausages.
conducted postdoctoral research for two years at the National Heart Whelan was the first in his family to go to university; he earned
Institute under biochemist Sidney Udenfriend, then returned to UT three degrees at the University of Birmingham and was appointed
Southwestern as a faculty member. There he continued his research as faculty while a graduate student. He then joined the University
for more than 60 years until retiring in 2011. of North Wales, the University of London Lister Institute, and later
Wilson's research centered around male sex hormones the Royal Free Hospital.
called androgens. He discovered the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase, Whelan moved to the then 15-year-old Miller School of
which converts testosterone into the hormone he identified as Medicine at the University of Miami in 1967, remaining its chair
dihydrotestosterone. He demonstrated that dihydrotestosterone is of biochemistry until 1991 and retiring as one of its longest-
critical for male sexual maturation and function in many animals. serving faculty in 2019.
Wilson also discovered that unchecked dihydrotestosterone Whelan worked on important storage molecules in animals
production can cause a condition of prostate enlargement. His and plants, glycogen and starch, respectively. When your
research contributed to development of the first treatments for stomach is empty, you check the body’s metaphorical cupboards,
prostate disease, a class of pharmaceuticals known as 5-alpha- where you can thank glycogenin for putting aside a condensed
reductase inhibitors. He also developed methods to quantify form of glucose for just such a time.
cholesterol in the body, contributing to our understanding of how But catalyzing requires raw materials. In the late 1980s,
cholesterol is made and degraded. when funding was dry, his wife, Margaret, suggested he use a
Wilson was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the newly released pension from his U.K. faculty positions. Whelan
U.S. in 1983 and to the National Academy of Medicine in 1994. expanded his lab and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in
He received the Oppenheimer and Koch awards of the Endocrine 1992 in part due to a discovery of how to make use of glycogen
Society, the Amory Prize of the American Academy of Arts and stores — by glucosyltransferase reactions, in case you were
Sciences, and the Kober Medal of the Association of American wondering.
Physicians. Glycogenin is known for drawing things together. Knowing the
Wilson’s legacy has been memorialized at UT Southwestern. The draw of Florida in winter, Whelan launched a winter conference
Jean D. Wilson Center for Biomedical Research and the J.D. and attracting Nobel laureates, now enjoying its 53rd year. Glycogenin
Maggie E. Wilson distinguished chair in biomedical research were fast-tracks; it is a catalyst. Whelan started an acclaimed program
established to promote endocrinology, developmental biology and in response to medical shortages, giving Ph.D. students — like
genetics research with support from Wilson and his sister, the late glycogen itself — condensed coursework to complete an M.D.
Margaret Sitton. The Jean D. Wilson, M.D. Award also was created faster. And glycogenin is a self-starter; it self-phosphorylates. So,
to recognize excellence in research mentorship. too, was Whelan. He started the journals Trends in Biomedical
In addition to more than 340 scientific publications, Wilson Science and Federation of European Biochemical Society Letters,
authored an autobiography titled “The Memoir of a Fortunate Man”; and he remained an editor-in-chief of the journal IUBMB Life
he described growing up in the Texas panhandle, his scientific (and president of the International Union of Biochemistry and
research and his many hobbies, including ice cream making, bird Molecular Biology) until 2020, stating he wanted biochemistry to
watching and a passion for opera. be presented in “crystalline prose.”
— Courtney Chandler — Renae Crossing
8 ASBMB TODAY DECEMBER 2021SOCIETY NEWS
Get involved Brady, Coulson and Strahl Give the gift
with the ASBMB join JBC in 2022 of ASBMB
We encourage all ASBMB Donita Brady, Elizabeth Coulson and Brian Strahl will membership
members to engage in become associate editors for the Journal of Biological
society activities — big or Give a colleague, student or friend
Chemistry in January. All three are current editorial board
small. Use our advocacy
members. a full year of exceptional resources
toolkit to communicate and enriching experiences. Visit
Brady is a faculty member at
with lawmakers. Start a
the Perelman School of Medicine asbmb.org/gift-membership.
student chapter at your
school. Watch an on-demand at the University of Pennsylvania.
webinar. Contribute to our She also serves as assistant dean
diversity scholarship fund. for inclusion, diversity and equity in
Learn all the ways you can research. Her areas of specialty are
BRADY
benefit and help at asbmb. cell signaling and protein kinases in
org/membership/get- cancer. In 2016, she was named a JBC Herbert Tabor Early
involved. Career Investigator Award winner. Also, in April, she will give a
talk at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting session on signaling
titled “Tracing copper utilization
Nominations by kinase signal transduction
for the ASBMB pathways: Implications for cancer
ASBMB welcomes
Honor Society cell processes.”
new undergraduate
due Jan. 31 Coulson is a group leader at
the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing education
Student chapter members
are eligible for election into Dementia Research and a professor coordinator
COULSON
the ASBMB Honor Society, at the Queensland Brain Institute. In October, the ASBMB
ΧΩΛ. The honor society She also serves as deputy head of the school of biomedical welcomed Tejiri Olafimihan as
recognizes juniors and seniors sciences. Her lab studies the degeneration that occurs in its new undergraduate education
demonstrating exceptional cholinergic neurons in the brain and coordinator. In this role, she
achievement in academics, spinal cord. She has been a member will support
research and science outreach. the society’s
of the ASBMB since 2013.
For more information and student
Strahl is a professor at the
to apply, visit asbmb.org/ chapters,
University of North Carolina School
education/student-chapters/ undergraduate
of Medicine, where he also serves as poster
honor-society.
STRAHL vice chair of the biochemistry and competition
biophysics department. His areas of at the annual
specialty are chromatin biology and histone modifications. meeting, degree-accreditation
He has been a member of the society since 2005. He won the program and certification exam.
ASBMB Young Investigator Award in 2006. “I have been an educator for the
past five years, and stepping into
this role from the classroom as a
STEM educator, I’m excited to
Advocating for open science and security continue to champion diversity in
in the American research enterprise the scientific community as well
In early October, the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology held an as provide students with different
resources and opportunities that
important hearing on balancing open science and research security within the U.S.
will empower them to contribute
The ASBMB public affairs staff submitted testimony on this issue urging members of
to the next generation of great
Congress to pass legislation harmonizing disclosure requirements, defining procedures for
scientists,” Olafimihan said. “I
handling allegations of research misconduct violation and providing the scientific com- look forward to helping bring
munity with evidence-based reports on research integrity violations. Read the testimony about incredible change in the
at asbmb.org/advocacy/position-statements. field of life sciences.”
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 9NEWS
ASBMB public affairs 2021:
The year in review
By Sarina Neote
F
rom advocating for sustainable
science funding to supporting
junior scientists, the American
Society for Biochemistry and Mo-
lecular Biology public affairs team put
together this roundup of our policy
accomplishments in 2021. Here are
the highlights.
Supporting early-career
scientists and the research
enterprise
The ASBMB took the lead on a
bipartisan "dear colleague" letter (a
document used by members of Con-
gress to encourage their colleagues to
support specific issues) in the House of U.S. Customs and Immigration Ser- Improving scientific
vices outlining significant barriers,
Representatives advocating for targeted
such as visa processing delays, that integrity policies
relief for junior scientists affected by
the pandemic. Reps. Jamie Raskin, international students and scholars President Joe Biden’s administra-
D-Md.; Bill Foster, D-Ill.; and David face when trying to study or work in tion has focused on restoring trust
McKinley, R-W.Va., sent the letter to the U.S. in science in the federal govern-
the House leadership in late May. The society also submitted for- ment and strengthening integrity
In addition to this effort, the mal testimony for a congressional policies at the science agencies as
ASBMB public affairs staff worked roundtable, “Researching While outlined in his January presidential
with the society’s Public Affairs Chinese American: Ethnic Profiling, memo. Per his request, in June,
Advisory Committee to advocate for Chinese American Scientists and a the White House Office of Science
the passage of the Research Investment New American Brain Drain.” In its and Technology Policy published
to Spark the Economy Act, which, testimony, the ASBMB emphasized a notice of request of information
if passed, would provide support for that recent efforts by the Depart- to improve the effectiveness of
research disrupted by the COVID-19 ment of Justice targeting Chinese federal scientific integrity policies to
pandemic. and Chinese American scientists and enhance public trust in science. The
those who collaborate with Chinese ASBMB submitted formal com-
institutions have had a chilling effect ments recommending the OSTP
Supporting international on international scientific collabora- strengthen whistleblower protec-
collaboration tion, undercutting the U.S.’s role tions, refine conflict-of-interest poli-
The ASBMB public affairs staff as the global leader in science and cies, encourage preprints and media
wrote and submitted comments to technology. engagement, and study and remedy
10 ASBMB TODAY DECEMBER 2021NEWS
not fuel racial profiling of Chinese,
Chinese American, Asian and Asian
The end of an era at the NIH American scientists.
The longtime director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis
Collins, announced in the fall that Commenting on the
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
he plans to step down as director
and return to running his lab, which
proposal for ARPA-H
focuses on cystic fibrosis. Collins, President Biden called for the
a physician–scientist, has run the creation of the Advanced Research
agency for 12 years, serving under Projects Agency for Health, or
three presidents. Before that, he was ARPA-H, dedicated to researching
the director of the National Human human diseases and focusing on
Genome Research Institute for 15 innovative research to address the
years, presiding over the completion nation’s greatest health challenges.
of the Human Genome Project. Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and
Francis S. Collins has served as the Fred Upton, R-Mich., released the
Collins’ signature projects as NIH
director of the National Institutes of discussion draft of the bill establish-
director have included efforts to Health since August 2009.
address structural racism and sexual ing this new agency and requested
harassment, rolling out data-sharing policies, and leadership through feedback from the scientific com-
the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the munity. The ASBMB advocated for
ASBMB wrote, “Francis Collins has served admirably through some keeping ARPA-H autonomous and
of the most challenging times in the NIH’s history. ... a steadfast separate from other federal funding
leader showing grace, tenacity and — on a lighter note — a skill with agencies and advocated for ARPA-
a guitar unmatched by any other agency leader.” H to create an inclusive research
ecosystem that attracts a diverse
talent pool.
funding inequities. recommend that federal agencies
Shortly after it published this harmonize conflict-of-interest and
RFI, the OSTP also began creat- conflict-of-commitment disclo- Sarina Neote (sneote@
ing implementation guidance for sure requirements, be transparent asbmb.org) is the science
federal agencies on clear rules for about investigative processes on policy manager for the ASBMB
advocating for diversity in
research security and researcher violations of research integrity, STEM, sustainable funding
responsibility. The ASBMB and ensure that the Department for scientific research and the
STEM workforce.
strongly encouraged the OSTP to of Justice’s China Initiative does
New stories
online every
day.
asbmb.org/asbmb-today
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 11LIPID NEWS
‘Fatty retina’: A root cause
of vision loss in diabetes?
By Clay F. Semenkovich & Rithwick Rajagopal
V
ision loss in diabetes, one of the like in the liver, the diabetic retina does
most feared complications of not develop intracellular lipid droplets
this disease, is caused by a pro- and does not possess any significant
gressive pathogenic process known as triglyceride stores. Moreover, in com-
diabetic retinopathy, or DR. Elevated prehensive surveys of membrane lipids
blood glucose is the predominant risk in the retina, we found only modest
factor for DR, so many people believe disease-associated changes. Instead,
that glucose toxicity is the major palmitate could elicit pathological
contributor to the development of signaling either through lipid second
this disease. Yet, to date, no pharma- messengers or via lipidation of protein
ceuticals specifically targeting glucose- messengers. Our group is investigating
dependent pathways exist for DR. Diabetic retinopathy, shown here, causes vision these possibilities actively.
Diabetes is a disease of broadly loss in patients with diabetes. Our results shed some light on a
disordered metabolism that affects puzzling feature of human DR: Though
how cells handle lipids, amino acids building block for many lipids. This glucose is the major risk factor for vi-
and signaling networks that regu- shift in lipid production was likely sion loss in diabetes, it explains only a
late growth and proliferation — in due to elevated glucose alone, as fraction of the variability in disease pro-
addition to its impact on glucose. isolated retinal tissue exposed to high gression. Differences among individuals
Accordingly, abnormalities of lipid glucose showed the same increase in in terms of their retinal lipid biosyn-
metabolism are common in diabetes. palmitate production. thetic flux could account for some of
For example, patients with diabetes Mechanistically, high glucose the variance in glucose response.
often suffer from nonalcoholic fatty levels increased enzymatic activity of Future pharmacotherapy to finely
liver disease, which is characterized two regulatory enzymes: acetyl Co-A tune retinal lipid biogenesis in DR
by chronic positive energy balance carboxylase and fatty acid synthase, or could offer a novel approach to the
causing increased lipid synthesis and FAS. Mice with partial FAS loss-of- treatment of an increasingly common
elevated levels of hepatic triglycerides. function in rod photoreceptors — the cause of visual disability.
Thus, we reasoned that the retina predominant cell type of the retina
might switch its lipid metabolic — were spared from vision loss due to Clay F. Semenkovich
programming in response to an abun- diabetes even though they developed (csemenko@wustl.edu) is a
professor and division chief of
dance of fuel in diabetes. severe systemic metabolic disease on endocrinology at Washington
To test this possibility, our group par with control mice. Conversely, University in St. Louis. He studies
studied the pathways that govern mice with FAS gain-of-function lipid metabolism in diabetes,
obesity and related disorders.
retinal lipid biogenesis (the process developed vision loss in half the time
of synthesizing fatty acids from small as wild-type mice after induction of
precursors) during experimental dia- diabetes. Taken together, our results Rithwick Rajagopal (rajagopalr@
wustl.edu) is an assistant
betes in mice. In multiple models of implicate increased retinal FAS activ- professor of ophthalmology at
diabetes, we observed a roughly 70% ity and elevated palmitate as root Washington University in St.
increase over controls in the synthesis causes of vision loss in diabetes. Louis. His research focuses
on abnormalities of neural
of retinal palmitate — a ubiquitous The mechanisms for palmitate tox- metabolism as contributors to
saturated fatty acid that forms a basic icity in the retina remain elusive. Un- vision loss in diabetes.
12 ASBMB TODAY DECEMBER 2021JOURNAL NEWS
Democratizing calcium
visualization
by Laurel Oldach
A
t a time when cloning a gene
was a feat worthy of a high-
impact publication, someone
asked Roger Tsien why he studied
calcium.
“His somewhat flippant answer
was, ‘Because it cannot be cloned,’” Nonprotonated structures of BAPTA
recalled Joseph Kao, who was a post- (top) and Fluo3 (right). When Ca2+ is
present, the carboxylic acid groups
doc in Tsien’s lab and is now a profes-
in each molecule coordinate the
JOSEPH KAO
sor at the University of Maryland.
cation.
“Early on, he was actually somewhat
dismissive of molecular biology.”
Tsien, who died in 2016, is best
remembered for his contributions to
developing a molecular biology icon:
green fluorescent protein. His group’s concentration that could be used in four carboxylate groups.
work helped transform the protein cells. At the University of California,
from a coelenterine curiosity to a lab- Tsien began to pursue an inter- Berkeley, Tsien led a lab that devel-
oratory staple and earned Tsien a third est in calcium signaling early in his oped the calcium probes fura-2 and
of the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry. scientific career. The ion already was indo-1, which are elaborations of the
Prior to launching that project in the known as an important signal car- BAPTA architecture. Both of these
1990s, Tsien already had revolution- rier central to muscle contraction, molecules are intrinsically fluorescent,
ized the field of calcium sensing. synaptic transmission and many other but upon binding Ca2+, the shapes of
In the 1970s, Kao said, measur- physiological functions. their fluorescence spectra change. The
ing calcium was “a very rarefied, “Calcium was central to every- ratio of the fluorescence intensities
arcane art” that depended on a deep thing — but it was very difficult to at two different wavelengths can be
knowledge of electrophysiology. measure,” Kao said. Tsien considered calibrated into actual Ca2+ concen-
Today, researchers can use a variety of electrophysiology as an undergradu- tration. Because such ratiometric
fluorescent indicators to visualize the ate, but by the time he started his measurements are insensitive to the
activity of calcium and other second graduate research at Cambridge, he concentration of indicator in the
messengers in living cells. Many mod- was focused on chemical approaches. sample, some common experimental
ern indicators derive from a series of The first Ca2+ chelator Tsien artifacts are minimized. Still, Tsien
probes that Tsien’s lab developed. developed, 2-bis(o-aminophenoxy) was disappointed that they required
In one Journal of Biological ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid, or long-wavelength ultraviolet excitation,
Chemistry Classic article on such BAPTA, remains widely used because which potentially can harm cells and
probes, “Ca2+ indicators based on of its rapid binding kinetics, high excite autofluorescence. Tsien was ini-
fluoresceins and rhodamines,” Akwasi selectivity for calcium and insensitiv- tially reluctant to publish on the new
Minta, Kao and Tsien introduced ity to pH changes in the physiological indicators, Kao said, but ultimately
several fluorescent indicators of Ca2+ range. BAPTA binds calcium through yielded to persuasion by postdoc
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 13JOURNAL NEWS
over again.” They found that cells took up the in-
JOSEPH KAO
Some molecules he generated failed dicators through incubation with the
to fluoresce or were protonated at corresponding acetoxymethyl esters
near-physiological pH. Minta tweaked and confirmed a dazzling increase in
and adapted, adding and modifying fluorescence when they applied Ca2+-
functional groups until he had two mobilizing agonists.
chimeric molecules, derived from the Fluo-3 quickly was adopted for
fluorophores rhodamine and fluo- many uses. By 1995, researchers had
rescein, that were weakly fluorescent reported watching waves of Ca2+
on their own but lit up dramatically activity pass through connected
when Ca2+ bound. The lab dubbed networks of neurons in mouse brain
the probes fluo-3 and rhod-2. slices, observing cell-cycle initiation
Ordinarily, when a molecule in fertilized egg cells, and detect-
absorbs light, the energy is dispersed ing “Ca2+ sparks” — microscopic,
Three-dimensional model of Fluo3 binding a Ca2+
quickly as molecular motion, or elementary Ca2+ signals generated
ion (purple). The structure shows the participation
of the two nitrogens (blue) and six oxygens (red) heat. Fluorescence — the release of by the coordinated opening of small
that bind to Ca2+, causing the ion to be enveloped captured light energy as a photon — clusters of Ca2+-release channels — on
by the chelator. requires special circumstances. the sarcoplasmic reticulum in heart
“When a molecule absorbs light, an cells. Kao said the new technologies
Martin Poenie. electron is promoted from a lower- “made calcium measurement acces-
Tsien was intent on developing a energy level into a higher-energy level, sible to essentially anyone with a
fluorescent Ca2+ indicator with excita- leaving a vacancy in the lower level,” microscope.”
tion in the visible range. Perhaps it Kao said. Emission of a photon de- Tsien was disappointed, however,
could be done by combining BAPTA pends on the excited electron return- that the new probes changed only in
with the visible fluorescence of already ing to its normal lower-energy state. If intensity, not in excitation or emission
available fluorophores? He recruited an electron elsewhere in the molecule wavelength, upon Ca2+ binding; he
postdocs Minta, a chemist, and Kao, a is free to slip into that lower orbital, had hoped to be able to do ratiomet-
biophysicist, to work on the project. he said, the excited electron’s energy ric imaging.
First, the molecules had to be syn- ultimately is lost as heat instead of “Roger was almost always dissatis-
thesized. An early synthetic strategy being emitted as light, a phenomenon fied with any product that you made,”
involved a long pressurized incuba- known as fluorescence quenching. Kao said. “He had a perfect concep-
tion in an aluminum instrument that In the chimeric molecules, the fluo- tion of how they should behave, and
resembled an old-fashioned coffee rophore can be quenched by electrons then they would fall short on one or
urn. Kao recalled a time when the in lone pairs on the BAPTA moiety. another aspect, and he’d be a little
chemists left a reaction to run over the But when a positively charged Ca2+ rueful: ‘If only we had discovered how
weekend, hoping to improve its yield. ion is present, it forms bonds with to do this.’”
“When we came back … there was those electrons, lowering their energy Tsien finally got his visible ratio-
an imprint where the lid handle had and making it energetically unfavor- metric Ca2+ sensor about 10 years
smashed into the ceiling. Somewhere able for them to fill the vacancy left later. It was based on GFP and the
else, we found the lid completely flat- by the excited electron. Without com- calcium-binding protein calmodulin;
tened.” The reaction also had shattered petition for the vacated orbital, the though calcium could not be cloned,
an internal glass ampule, leaving glass excited electron can relax back into it, cloning turned out to be useful in its
dust all over the lab. emitting a photon. study after all.
“Subsequently, they found better “Calcium allows it to fluoresce
ways to do that reaction,” Kao said. beautifully,” Minta said. In a test tube,
Laurel Oldach (loldach@
Even after the molecules were syn- fluo-3’s brightness increased by 40- to asbmb.org) is a science writer
thesized, the work was not complete. 100-fold when calcium was added. for the ASBMB. Follow her on
“Roger was a perfectionist,” Minta In a second paper in the same issue Twitter: @LaurelOld.
said. “If I did a dye and it had certain of JBC, Kao and several colleagues
imperfections, he made me start all tested the probes for live-cell imaging.
14 ASBMB TODAY DECEMBER 2021JOURNAL NEWS
Salivary proteins may hold key
to targeting tick-borne diseases
By Nivedita Uday Hegdekar lated BaSO4-adsorbing protein 1, or
SCOTT BAUER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
W
BSAP1, from tick saliva and described
hen Ingrid Dijkgraaf ’s its anticoagulant activities. However,
research group was search- its structure was yet undetermined,
ing for molecules that could and Dijkgraaf saw this as an excellent
inhibit chemokines, a group of small research opportunity.
signaling proteins involved in the Denisov, by then a postdoctoral
development of atherosclerosis, they fellow in Dijkgraaf ’s lab, had extensive
stumbled upon an unusual source: experience in structural biology and
tick saliva. undertook the project.
As blood-sucking parasites, ticks “After Dr. Mans gave us the
transmit more than a dozen serious sequence, we were able to synthesize Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the deer
diseases, including Lyme disease, this protein chemically,” Denisov said. tick or black-legged tick, is a vector for Lyme and
typhus and tick-borne meningo- “Once we elucidated the structure, other diseases.
encephalitis, to both animals and we carried out additional studies to
humans. They also produce proteins characterize its activity.” nism by which the salivary proteins
in their saliva that help them avoid Denisov discovered that parts of inhibit the host immune system and
being spotted by the host’s immune the BSAP1 protein were similar to potentially use these proteins for
system. others, such as tick salivary lectin development of anti-tick vaccines.
Several years ago, Dijkgraaf ’s complement pathway inhibitor, or Her collaborator Joppe W.
group, including then–graduate TSLPI, Salp14. He carried out assays Hovius, an infectious disease special-
student Stephen Denisov, found that to distinguish TSLPI Salp14 and ist at the University of Amsterdam, is
evasins, a family of those proteins that BSAP1on a functional level and found an expert on the TSLPI protein.
help ticks skirt detection, also could that the BSAP1 and TSLP1 proteins “His work has shown that the
neutralize chemokines involved in both inhibit the lectin complement TSLPI protein helps Borrelia bac-
atherosclerosis. pathway and thus prevent the host’s terium to move from the ticks to
“Tick saliva contains chemokine- immune system from recognizing the host and cause Lyme disease,”
binding compounds,” said Dijkgraaf, an invasive tick bite. However, the Dijkgraaf said. “Hence, if we could
an associate professor at the Univer- Salp14 protein has a double function inhibit this protein by antibodies or
sity of Maastricht. “Millions of years — it is an inhibitor of both the lectin some medication, then maybe we
of evolution have already developed, complement pathway and the host co- can also inhibit the transmission of
probably, the most ideal compound to agulation cascade, which means it also the Borrelia bacterium from tick and
target atherosclerosis. This shows how prevents clotting of the host’s blood at host.”
nature could help researchers unravel the site of the bite. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100865
molecular mechanisms. They can be Denisov’s data collectively support
the starting point for development of a mechanism by which tick saliva Nivedita Uday Hegdekar
therapeutics and chemical agents.” proteins can evade the host immune (nivedita.hegdekar@
umaryland.edu) is a graduate
Dijkgraaf began investigating other system. The findings recently were student at the University of
proteins in the saliva of ticks. Several published as a research paper in the Maryland working toward a
years ago, one of her collaborators, Journal of Biological Chemistry. Ph.D. in biochemistry and
molecular biology and an M.S.
Ben Mans, a professor at the Uni- For next steps, Dijkgraaf wants to in patent law. Follow her on
versity of Pretoria, South Africa, iso- study the precise molecular mecha- Twitter @NiveditaHegdek1.
DECEMBER 2021 ASBMB TODAY 15You can also read
