Jason Cantor
@jasonrcantor.bsky.social
studying genetic and environmental contributions to cell fitness in cancer and immunity | biology-engineering-biotechnology | #HPLM | current: investigator @Morgridge_Inst, assistant prof @UW-Madison
Pinned
Jason Cantor
@jasonrcantor.bsky.social
· Jan 16
For ~century, we’ve asked: why do proliferating cells ferment glucose even when O2 is around? I’m thrilled to share our latest work @natmetabolism.nature.com, led by @thebiokimist.bsky.social. By leveraging conditional essentiality in HPLM, we propose a provocative new answer to this classic Q. 🧵
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Good Sunday, all! Here is the curated weekly collection of papers in #cancermetabolism and #mitochondrialbiology. Don't miss it; find it here: biomed.news/bims-camemi/... Biomed News #keepreading
"It's very simple to be happy. But it's very difficult to be simple." - Rabindranath Tagore
"It's very simple to be happy. But it's very difficult to be simple." - Rabindranath Tagore
January 18, 2026 at 6:40 AM
Good Sunday, all! Here is the curated weekly collection of papers in #cancermetabolism and #mitochondrialbiology. Don't miss it; find it here: biomed.news/bims-camemi/... Biomed News #keepreading
"It's very simple to be happy. But it's very difficult to be simple." - Rabindranath Tagore
"It's very simple to be happy. But it's very difficult to be simple." - Rabindranath Tagore
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Latest collection of papers on mitochondria in health and disease! #MitochondrialDisease #week3
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...
@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @mitoscientists.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...
@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @mitoscientists.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Hexokinase detachment from mitochondria drives the Warburg effect to support compartmentalized ATP production - Nature Metabolism
Hexokinase detachment from the outer mitochondrial membrane is shown to support aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells. Differential localization of the HK1 isoform to the outer mitochondrial membrane, co...
www.nature.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Latest collection of papers on mitochondria in health and disease! #MitochondrialDisease #week3
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...
@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @mitoscientists.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
biomed.news/bims-mitdis/...
@biomednews.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @mitoscientists.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
For ~century, we’ve asked: why do proliferating cells ferment glucose even when O2 is around? I’m thrilled to share our latest work @natmetabolism.nature.com, led by @thebiokimist.bsky.social. By leveraging conditional essentiality in HPLM, we propose a provocative new answer to this classic Q. 🧵
January 16, 2026 at 4:27 PM
For ~century, we’ve asked: why do proliferating cells ferment glucose even when O2 is around? I’m thrilled to share our latest work @natmetabolism.nature.com, led by @thebiokimist.bsky.social. By leveraging conditional essentiality in HPLM, we propose a provocative new answer to this classic Q. 🧵
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Really thrilled to have our work on mitochondrial presequence strength out today @jcb.org. We establish quantitative parameters to better define "strong" and "weak" presequences both in vitro and in vivo. This work was spearheaded by the ever talented Youmian Yan, a BBSB graduate student in my lab.
Yan, @ianofbristol.bsky.social, @nieminm.bsky.social et al. define quantitative parameters underlying the strength of mitochondrial-targeting presequences, and demonstrate that yeast require strong presequences to facilitate select metabolic pathways in #mitochondria. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
January 8, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Really thrilled to have our work on mitochondrial presequence strength out today @jcb.org. We establish quantitative parameters to better define "strong" and "weak" presequences both in vitro and in vivo. This work was spearheaded by the ever talented Youmian Yan, a BBSB graduate student in my lab.
happy to have collaborated on this v cool study led by Andy & Aaron from the Sean Palecek and Melissa Skala labs! culturing hPSC-CMs in HPLM effectively enhances their maturation vs traditional media ➡️ potential modeling implications for cardiac biology/CVD!
tinyurl.com/3yutyd8c
tinyurl.com/3yutyd8c
Human plasma‐like medium enhances structural and metabolic maturation of human pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes
Human plasma-like medium (HPLM), a synthetic physiologic medium containing over 60 metabolites and small ions at concentrations reflective of adult human plasma, enhances the structural and metabolic....
tinyurl.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:26 PM
happy to have collaborated on this v cool study led by Andy & Aaron from the Sean Palecek and Melissa Skala labs! culturing hPSC-CMs in HPLM effectively enhances their maturation vs traditional media ➡️ potential modeling implications for cardiac biology/CVD!
tinyurl.com/3yutyd8c
tinyurl.com/3yutyd8c
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Excited to share our latest work out today in @cp-molcell.bsky.social, revealing a molecular link between succinate dehydrogenase and purine synthesis, connecting two fundamental metabolic pathways. Huge congratulations to the first author, Mushtaq Nengroo! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
!
!
Accumulation of succinate suppresses de novo purine synthesis through succinylation-mediated control of the mitochondrial folate cycle
The de novo purine synthesis pathway is fundamental for nucleotide production, yet the role of mitochondrial metabolism in modulating this process rem…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Excited to share our latest work out today in @cp-molcell.bsky.social, revealing a molecular link between succinate dehydrogenase and purine synthesis, connecting two fundamental metabolic pathways. Huge congratulations to the first author, Mushtaq Nengroo! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
!
!
Reposted by Jason Cantor
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
September 9, 2025 at 9:38 PM
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...
Reposted by Jason Cantor
New preprint: we developed a method that uses phosphoproteome-derived peptide libraries (PhosPropels) for deep specificity profiling of phosphatases and phospholyases www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 13, 2025 at 5:20 PM
New preprint: we developed a method that uses phosphoproteome-derived peptide libraries (PhosPropels) for deep specificity profiling of phosphatases and phospholyases www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Our work on new paradigm in peroxisome biogenesis and PEX39 (1st human peroxisomal biogenesis protein (peroxin/PEX) found in > 20 yr) is out in @natcellbio.nature.com! Equal collab w/Tony Rodrigues (Jorge Azevedo lab), @dwendscheck.bsky.social (Bettina Warscheid lab)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
PEX39 facilitates the peroxisomal import of PTS2-containing proteins - Nature Cell Biology
Chen et al. show that PEX39 cooperates with PEX7 in the peroxisomal import of proteins containing a PTS2 site and uncover an (R/K)PWE motif in PEX39 and PEX13 that binds to PEX7 and facilitates the im...
www.nature.com
July 30, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Our work on new paradigm in peroxisome biogenesis and PEX39 (1st human peroxisomal biogenesis protein (peroxin/PEX) found in > 20 yr) is out in @natcellbio.nature.com! Equal collab w/Tony Rodrigues (Jorge Azevedo lab), @dwendscheck.bsky.social (Bettina Warscheid lab)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Super excited to share new review on metabolic stress and adaptations in pancreatic cancer to these stresses from @cssheehan.bsky.social
jci.org/articles/vie... 1/6
jci.org/articles/vie... 1/6
JCI -
What’s on the menu?: metabolic constraints in the pancreatic tumor microenvironment
jci.org
July 19, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Super excited to share new review on metabolic stress and adaptations in pancreatic cancer to these stresses from @cssheehan.bsky.social
jci.org/articles/vie... 1/6
jci.org/articles/vie... 1/6
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Excited to share our latest: we engineered the reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme for ATP-driven modification of C termini. Our tool mimics the logic of peptide bond formation in biology for precision modification of proteins in vitro. 🧪https://rdcu.be/ewN7C
Engineered reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme enables ATP-driven modification of protein and peptide C termini
Nature Chemistry - In living systems, ATP provides an energetic driving force for protein synthesis and modification. Now, an engineered enzymatic tool has been developed for high-yield, ATP-driven...
rdcu.be
July 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Excited to share our latest: we engineered the reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme for ATP-driven modification of C termini. Our tool mimics the logic of peptide bond formation in biology for precision modification of proteins in vitro. 🧪https://rdcu.be/ewN7C
Reposted by Jason Cantor
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...
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
May 29, 2025 at 9:18 PM
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 Jason Cantor
ICYMI:
Cytosolic NADK is conditionally essential for folate-dependent nucleotide synthesis
Nature Metabolism, Published online: 02 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01272-3In this study, Flickinger et al. uncover the essential role of cytosolic NADK and why the relative importance of this role further depends on folate availability.
bit.ly
May 9, 2025 at 2:06 PM
ICYMI:
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Good Sunday, all. Here is a summary of papers in #cancermetabolism and #mitochondrialbiology, packed with superexciting science and discoveries. Don't miss it, check it here: biomed.news/bims-camemi/... @biomednews.bsky.social
"Love is the quality of attention we pay to things."
-J. D. McClatchy
"Love is the quality of attention we pay to things."
-J. D. McClatchy
a penguin is reading a book while sitting on a pile of books reading vibes
ALT: a penguin is reading a book while sitting on a pile of books reading vibes
media.tenor.com
May 4, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Good Sunday, all. Here is a summary of papers in #cancermetabolism and #mitochondrialbiology, packed with superexciting science and discoveries. Don't miss it, check it here: biomed.news/bims-camemi/... @biomednews.bsky.social
"Love is the quality of attention we pay to things."
-J. D. McClatchy
"Love is the quality of attention we pay to things."
-J. D. McClatchy
excited to share our latest work now online
@natmetabolism.nature.com, led by
@kyle-flickinger.bsky.social, where we unravel a mechanistic basis for the conditional essentiality of NADK, one of the many interesting hits from our previously reported CRISPR screening with HPLM rdcu.be/ekpu6
@natmetabolism.nature.com, led by
@kyle-flickinger.bsky.social, where we unravel a mechanistic basis for the conditional essentiality of NADK, one of the many interesting hits from our previously reported CRISPR screening with HPLM rdcu.be/ekpu6
May 2, 2025 at 3:32 PM
excited to share our latest work now online
@natmetabolism.nature.com, led by
@kyle-flickinger.bsky.social, where we unravel a mechanistic basis for the conditional essentiality of NADK, one of the many interesting hits from our previously reported CRISPR screening with HPLM rdcu.be/ekpu6
@natmetabolism.nature.com, led by
@kyle-flickinger.bsky.social, where we unravel a mechanistic basis for the conditional essentiality of NADK, one of the many interesting hits from our previously reported CRISPR screening with HPLM rdcu.be/ekpu6
🚨 pleased to share a new preprint made possible through a fantastic collaboration with the Skala & Palecek labs! can medium composition impact the behavior of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes? Andy & Aaron co-led efforts to tackle this question w/HPLM! tinyurl.com/ux2arjw8
Human Plasma-Like Medium Promotes Maturation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes
Maturing human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) in vitro is critical for advancing drug discovery and cardiotoxicity screening applications of these cells. However, the metaboli...
tinyurl.com
April 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
🚨 pleased to share a new preprint made possible through a fantastic collaboration with the Skala & Palecek labs! can medium composition impact the behavior of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes? Andy & Aaron co-led efforts to tackle this question w/HPLM! tinyurl.com/ux2arjw8
congrats, @milansavani.com, Sam, et al! very cool approach and findings!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Stable isotope tracing in human plasma-like medium reveals metabolic and immune modulation of the glioblastoma microenvironment
Background In vivo stable isotope tracing is useful for natively surveying glioma metabolism but can be difficult to implement. Stable isotope tracing is tractable using in vitro glioma models, but mo...
www.biorxiv.org
April 27, 2025 at 4:09 PM
congrats, @milansavani.com, Sam, et al! very cool approach and findings!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
excited for a weekend of great science #ASBMB25! if you're in CHI, I encourage you to check out a session that Kevin Tharp
& I organized, Sat @ 930 (W176): events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Det...
+a talk from Kyle (Sun @ 9, W178), and posters from Kim, Kyle, & Gavin (Sun @ 430, W375c)! (fixed link)
& I organized, Sat @ 930 (W176): events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Det...
+a talk from Kyle (Sun @ 9, W178), and posters from Kim, Kyle, & Gavin (Sun @ 430, W375c)! (fixed link)
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events.rdmobile.com
April 11, 2025 at 9:57 PM
excited for a weekend of great science #ASBMB25! if you're in CHI, I encourage you to check out a session that Kevin Tharp
& I organized, Sat @ 930 (W176): events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Det...
+a talk from Kyle (Sun @ 9, W178), and posters from Kim, Kyle, & Gavin (Sun @ 430, W375c)! (fixed link)
& I organized, Sat @ 930 (W176): events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Det...
+a talk from Kyle (Sun @ 9, W178), and posters from Kim, Kyle, & Gavin (Sun @ 430, W375c)! (fixed link)
Reposted by Jason Cantor
happy to share our forum now online @Cell_Metabolism! fun for us (Guy & myself) to collaborate with @dfazakerley.bsky.social, Joycelyn, & Sam in putting together what we hope will be a useful piece for the broad metabolism community re: in vitro modeling! www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
Seeing the world through the eyes of cultured cells
The metabolic environment experienced by cultured cells often differs from physiological
conditions. Here, we highlight the effects that the microenvironment can have on cultured
cell behavior and adv...
www.cell.com
March 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
happy to share our forum now online @Cell_Metabolism! fun for us (Guy & myself) to collaborate with @dfazakerley.bsky.social, Joycelyn, & Sam in putting together what we hope will be a useful piece for the broad metabolism community re: in vitro modeling! www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Excited to share a new preprint! Wireless devices use FM modulation to transmit multiplexed noise-resistant data. Led by @born2raisecell.bsky.social, we create a biochemical analogue of this paradigm using genetically encoded oscillators (GEOs) for single-cell FM streaming tinyurl.com/nbs8rw42 🧵
March 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Excited to share a new preprint! Wireless devices use FM modulation to transmit multiplexed noise-resistant data. Led by @born2raisecell.bsky.social, we create a biochemical analogue of this paradigm using genetically encoded oscillators (GEOs) for single-cell FM streaming tinyurl.com/nbs8rw42 🧵
Safeguarding the future of biomedical science in the United States: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Safeguarding the future of biomedical science in the United States
NIH’s abrupt decision to cap indirect cost reimbursement at 15% threatens the critical
infrastructure supporting groundbreaking biomedical research in the United States.
This policy jeopardizes Americ...
www.cell.com
March 1, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Safeguarding the future of biomedical science in the United States: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Jason Cantor
Breaking news: 22 states are suing to block NIH’s cutting of indirect costs.
See our updated story on the Friday night news and its aftermath. scim.ag/4hTJQ6v
See our updated story on the Friday night news and its aftermath. scim.ag/4hTJQ6v
NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage and lawsuit
Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars
scim.ag
February 10, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Breaking news: 22 states are suing to block NIH’s cutting of indirect costs.
See our updated story on the Friday night news and its aftermath. scim.ag/4hTJQ6v
See our updated story on the Friday night news and its aftermath. scim.ag/4hTJQ6v
excited to share a new preprint from our lab! led by the outstanding (& newly minted PhD) @thebiokimist.bsky.social we first uncover a basis for conditional HK2 essentiality in HPLM - leveraging this dependence then leads us to distinct rationale underlying why the Warburg Effect is beneficial!
Hexokinase detachment from mitochondria drives the Warburg effect to support compartmentalized ATP production https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.07.637120v1
February 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
excited to share a new preprint from our lab! led by the outstanding (& newly minted PhD) @thebiokimist.bsky.social we first uncover a basis for conditional HK2 essentiality in HPLM - leveraging this dependence then leads us to distinct rationale underlying why the Warburg Effect is beneficial!
Reposted by Jason Cantor
The National Institutes of Health plans to severely cut the percentage of its grant money that can be used for overhead costs rather than research.
NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage
Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars
scim.ag
February 8, 2025 at 2:50 AM
The National Institutes of Health plans to severely cut the percentage of its grant money that can be used for overhead costs rather than research.