Henne lab
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hennelab.bsky.social
Henne lab
@hennelab.bsky.social
We are a cell biology lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. We study lipid droplets and the organization of metabolism in cells. For more, please see our lab website: https://labs.utsouthwestern.edu/henne-lab
Pinned
Proud present our latest work led by Blessy Paul, now in Developmental Cell @cellpress.bsky.social.

Here, we characterize an ER-localized antioxidant enzyme in humans and Drosophila that acts as a lipid quality control factor to suppress ER lipid oxidation.

www.cell.com/developmenta...
Paraoxonase-like APMAP maintains endoplasmic-reticulum-associated lipid and lipoprotein homeostasis
Here, Paul et al. show that APMAP is an ER-localized paraoxonase-like enzyme that suppresses lipid oxidation and redox stress at the ER network. APMAP loss leads to ER stress, redox disruption, phosph...
www.cell.com
Reposted by Henne lab
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 Henne lab
Check out our @ascbiology.bsky.social #CellBio2025 Minisymposium on ER Homeostasis. With THIS speaker lineup, this event will be as dynamic, transformative and productive as the ER itself!
So don’t 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦, 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚 yourselves over and join us to 𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 in world of the ER. (All PUNS intended.)
November 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
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
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
Happy Halloween from the Henne lab!
October 31, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
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 Henne lab
Looking forward to #UNCResearchWeek! I'll be presenting my lab's work on #organelles in physiology and neurodegenerative disease on Monday, October 20
October 15, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Great Endoplasmic Reticulum meeting in Paris organized by the amazing Eric Chevet @ericchevet.bsky.social! It was wonderful to also hang out with James Olzmann @olzmannlab.bsky.social and Rachid Thiam @abdourachidthiam.bsky.social.
October 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Another great EMBO #LipidDroplets workshop in Sant Feliu de Guixols! Many thanks to Maria Bohnert, Robin Klemm, and Bianca Schrul for the wonderful organization!
September 28, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Reposted by Henne lab
My awesome Drosophila colleague Akhila Rajan at Fred Hutch (Seattle) is recruiting both a staff scientist and a postdoc to study fat–brain communication, innate immunity, mitochondrial signaling, and brain senescence. Great team, great environment. Apply here: careers-fhcrc.icims.com/jobs/30062/j...
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Fred Hutch is dedicated to the elimination of cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death.
careers-fhcrc.icims.com
September 17, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Henne lab
Wonderful to see our paper on the #organelle signatures of #neurons and #astrocytes out in final form - congratulations, Shannon Rhoads and team!🎉 t.co/BPxKlbU6Ou
September 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
A pleasure to write this short review on lipid droplets for
@jcb.org together with Will Prinz and amazing artist Emma Reynolds!

We discuss 5 pervasive questions surrounding these remarkable little lipid organelles.

doi.org/10.1083/jcb....
Lipid droplets: Open questions and conceptual advances around a unique organelle | Journal of Cell Biology | Rockefeller University Press
Henne and Prinz discuss the lipid droplet field and pervasive questions surrounding droplets and their roles in physiology and disease.
doi.org
September 11, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
Great department! Most departments at UT Southwestern are actively or will soon be actively recruiting new PIs. Please consider joining us!
Love cell biology? Come be our neighbor!

The Dept of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern is advertising two tenure-track Assistant Professor positions. Generous startup & a great academic community. See ads below:

jobs.utsouthwestern.edu/job/22292356...

jobs.utsouthwestern.edu/job/22292357...
Assistant Professor - Cell Biology
Discover Assistant Professor - Cell Biology and other Faculty and Physicians jobs in Dallas, TX and apply online today!
jobs.utsouthwestern.edu
August 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
Quite a week for #lipidtime: phenomenal study using bifunctional lipid probes to quantify intracellular lipid transport from @nadlerlab.bsky.social and colleagues is now out @nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Quantitative imaging of lipid transport in mammalian cells - Nature
Directional, non-vesicular lipid transport is responsible for fast, species-selective lipid sorting into organelle membranes.
www.nature.com
August 20, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
We’ve used these dyes and they’re great! #lipidtime
The 4 chemically targeted Laurdan derivatives (for mitochondria, ER, lyso/endosomes, and the Golgi) that we published last year are now available (at a pretty reasonable price) from Avanti Polar Lipids (cat #880194, 880197, 880193, 880196). These have been very popular! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Organelle-Targeted Laurdans Measure Heterogeneity in Subcellular Membranes and Their Responses to Saturated Lipid Stress
Organelles feature characteristic lipid compositions that lead to differences in membrane properties. In cells, membrane ordering and fluidity are commonly measured using the solvatochromic dye Laurdan, whose fluorescence is sensitive to lipid packing. As a general lipophilic dye, Laurdan stains all hydrophobic environments in cells; therefore, it is challenging to characterize membrane properties in specific organelles or assess their responses to pharmacological treatments in intact cells. Here, we describe the synthesis and application of Laurdan-derived probes that read out the membrane packing of individual cellular organelles. The set of organelle-targeted Laurdans (OTL) localizes to the ER, mitochondria, lysosomes, and Golgi compartments with high specificity while retaining the spectral resolution needed to detect biological changes in membrane ordering. We show that ratiometric imaging with OTLs can resolve membrane heterogeneity within organelles as well as changes in lipid packing resulting from inhibition of trafficking or bioenergetic processes. We apply these probes to characterize organelle-specific responses to saturated lipid stress. While the ER and lysosomal membrane fluidity is sensitive to exogenous saturated fatty acids, that of mitochondrial membranes is protected. We then use differences in ER membrane fluidity to sort populations of cells based on their fatty acid diet, highlighting the ability of organelle-localized solvatochromic probes to distinguish between cells based on their metabolic state. These results expand the repertoire of targeted membrane probes and demonstrate their application in interrogating lipid dysregulation.
pubs.acs.org
August 20, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
Thank you indeed-great read and excellent discussion on our recent papers identifying molecular mechanisms that (I) connect cellular forces to organelles and (II) enable elaborate membrane systems to respond to mechanical challenge
August 18, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
Join us on Sept 18th as we welcome Dr. @sesmalab.bsky.social to our PROVIDES Seminar Series. Dr. Fernández-Sesma will lead a research seminar on Immune responses to dengue virus infection and vaccination. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about her research efforts.
August 18, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Thankful to @jcb.org and @lammerdinglab.bsky.social for highlighting our work together with work from @schliekerlab.bsky.social on the endoplasmic reticulum and proteins that influence ER shape and mechanical properties.
Heffler and @LammerdingLab.bsky.social discuss recent studies from the @schliekerlab.bsky.social (doi.org/10.1083/jcb....) and @hennelab.bsky.social (doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...) that identify two proteins serving as crucial mechanical elements in the endoplasmic reticulum. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
August 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Love cell biology? Come be our neighbor!

The Dept of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern is advertising two tenure-track Assistant Professor positions. Generous startup & a great academic community. See ads below:

jobs.utsouthwestern.edu/job/22292356...

jobs.utsouthwestern.edu/job/22292357...
Assistant Professor - Cell Biology
Discover Assistant Professor - Cell Biology and other Faculty and Physicians jobs in Dallas, TX and apply online today!
jobs.utsouthwestern.edu
August 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
Want to share your work at the premiere meeting of the minds between basic membrane biology and therapeutics? Short talk deadline is coming up Oct. 8, 2025. www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/...
August 4, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Henne lab
Thrilled this paper is out! We solved the first cocrystal structure of FSP1 with an inhibitor (FSEN1), providing mechanistic insight & a foundation for medchem. Led by Amalia Megarioti & Sitao Zhang. A terrific collaboration with Da Jia.
Brief Skytorial!
1/9
Cocrystal structure reveals the mechanism of FSP1 inhibition by FSEN1 | PNAS
FSP1 is an FAD-dependent oxidoreductase that uses NAD(P)H to regenerate the reduced forms of lipophilic quinone antioxidants, such as coenzyme Q10 ...
www.pnas.org
May 29, 2025 at 6:02 PM
We had a great kick-off of our Lipid Metabolism & Neurodegenerative Disease Mini-symposium! Many thanks to all speakers and attendees! #UTSW_science
May 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Beautiful science and scenery at the #CSMetabolites2025 meeting in Sitges, Spain.
May 13, 2025 at 7:37 AM