Publications by authors named "J W Bowerman"

Tissues store excess nutrients as triglyceride or glycogen, but how these reserves are sensed and communicate remains poorly understood. Here we identify molecular players orchestrating this metabolic balance during fat depletion. We show fat body (FB)-specific depletion of fatty acyl-CoA synthase FASN1 in Drosophila causes near-complete fat loss and metabolic remodeling that dramatically elevates glycogen storage and carbohydrate metabolism.

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Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique widely recognized for epilepsy and tumor mapping. MEG clinical reporting requires a multidisciplinary team, including expert input regarding each dipole's anatomic localization. Here, we introduce a novel tool, the "Magnetoencephalography Atlas Viewer" (MAV), which streamlines this anatomical analysis.

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Defective nutrient storage and adipocyte enlargement (hypertrophy) are emerging features of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Within adipose tissues, how the cytoskeletal network contributes to adipose cell size, nutrient uptake, fat storage, and signaling remain poorly understood. Utilizing the larval fat body (FB) as a model adipose tissue, we show that a specific actin isoform-Act5C-forms the cortical actin network necessary to expand adipocyte cell size for biomass storage in development.

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Article Synopsis
  • Classical theory posits that parasites should be better adapted and have higher fitness in host populations that they co-occur with (sympatric) compared to those that live separately (allopatric).
  • The study examined two trematode species, Paralechriorchis syntomentera and Ribeiroia ondatrae, to see how their local adaptation to amphibian hosts varied, with findings indicating that increased geographic and genetic distances negatively affected infection success for the snake-dispersed P. syntomentera, while the avian-dispersed R. ondatrae showed no such relationship.
  • Results suggest that higher dispersal capabilities of parasites may hinder their ability to adapt to specific local host populations, as indicated by noticeable genetic differences in P.
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Fatty acids (FAs) are central cellular metabolites that contribute to lipid synthesis, and can be stored or harvested for metabolic energy. Dysregulation in FA processing and storage causes toxic FA accumulation or altered membrane compositions and contributes to metabolic and neurological disorders. Saturated lipids are particularly detrimental to cells, but how lipid saturation levels are maintained remains poorly understood.

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