FIT2 is an acyl-coenzyme A diphosphatase crucial for endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis.

The endoplasmic reticulum is a cellular hub of lipid metabolism, coordinating lipid synthesis with continuous changes in metabolic flux. Maintaining ER lipid homeostasis despite these fluctuations is crucial to cell function and viability. Here, we identify a novel mechanism that is crucial for normal ER lipid metabolism and protects the ER from dysfunction.

Evidence for vesicle-mediated antigen export by the human pathogen .

The apicomplexan parasite is the primary agent of human babesiosis, a malaria-like illness and potentially fatal tick-borne disease. Unlike its close relatives, the agents of human malaria, develops within human and mouse red blood cells in the absence of a parasitophorous vacuole, and its secreted antigens lack trafficking motifs found in malarial secreted antigens. Here, we show that after invasion of erythrocytes, undergoes a major morphogenic change during which it produces an interlacement of vesicles (IOV); the IOV system extends from the plasma membrane of the parasite into the cytoplasm of the host erythrocyte.

Establishment of a continuous culture of in human erythrocytes reveals unusually high tolerance to recommended therapies.

Human babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Clinical cases caused by have been associated with high parasite burden, severe pathology, and death. In both mice and hamsters, the parasite causes uncontrolled fulminant infections, which ultimately lead to death. Resolving these infections requires knowledge of biology, virulence, and susceptibility to anti-infectives, but little is known and further research is hindered by a lack of relevant model systems.

Seipin is required for converting nascent to mature lipid droplets.

How proteins control the biogenesis of cellular lipid droplets (LDs) is poorly understood. Using and human cells, we show here that seipin, an ER protein implicated in LD biology, mediates a discrete step in LD formation-the conversion of small, nascent LDs to larger, mature LDs. Seipin forms discrete and dynamic foci in the ER that interact with nascent LDs to enable their growth.