Publications by authors named "Riccardo Babic"

Mitophagy is a specific type of autophagy responsible for the selective elimination of dysfunctional or superfluous mitochondria, ensuring the maintenance of mitochondrial quality control. The initiation of mitophagy is coordinated by the ULK1 kinase complex, which engages mitophagy receptors via its FIP200 subunit. Whether FIP200 performs additional functions in the subsequent later phases of mitophagy beyond this initial step and how its regulation occurs, remains unclear.

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We present an effective, fast, and user-friendly method to reduce codigestion of bead-bound ligands, such as antibodies or streptavidin, in affinity purification-mass spectrometry experiments. A short preincubation of beads with Sulfo-NHS-Acetate leads to chemical acetylation of lysine residues, making ligands insusceptible to Lys-C-mediated proteolysis. In contrast to similar approaches, our procedure offers the advantage of exclusively using nontoxic chemicals and employing mild chemical reaction conditions.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Autophagy is a process where cell materials are enclosed in an autophagosome and sent for degradation, involving specific proteins called SNAREs for membrane fusion.
  • - YKT6 is an essential SNARE protein conserved across species, and changes to its function lead to defects in autophagy and reduced cell survival.
  • - The activity of YKT6 is regulated by phosphorylation from the ULK1 kinase, which is vital for proper autophagosome-lysosome fusion, impacting the overall autophagy process and cell viability.
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