Lipid droplets — long thought of merely as the formless blobs of fat out of which spare tires and muffin tops were made —  have been found to play critical roles in the life cycles of certain proteins involved in gene expression.

Now, a study by Michael Welte, professor and chair of biology, and his colleagues, published in the journal eLife, describes how lipid droplets regulate these proteins.

The research has implications for understanding what helps embryos survive and could cause us to reconsider how we look at lipid-related diseases like obesity.

According to Welte, recent research found that lipid droplets have three main functions beyond their roles in fat storage:

1. Maturation: Some proteins, when they are first made, need lipid droplets to achieve their mature form.
2. Breakdown: Lipid droplets keep certain proteins out of the way when the proteins are either damaged or obsolete but are not yet destroyed.
3. Storage: Lipid droplets act as storage units for various proteins, so the proteins are sequestered until they are needed elsewhere in the cell.

Welte’s current research uses fruit fly embryos to study how lipid droplets influence a particular set of proteins called histones, which are responsible for wrapping long strands of DNA so the DNA will fit into a cell’s nucleus.

Histones are essential to life for most organisms “because they control everything in the nucleus and package DNA to regulate gene expression,” Welte says. “If we have the wrong amount of histones—either too many or too few—there will be widespread defects.”

Welte discovered that lipid droplets play an important role in regulating a particular histone called H2Av. A mother fly produces huge amounts of histones, which are then transferred to her eggs so an embryo’s DNA can be packaged as the embryo develops and makes more cells. Acting like pacemakers, the lipid droplets regulate how fast H2Av enters a cell’s nucleus by storing the H2Av until the nucleus needs it.

The researchers used sophisticated microscopy to observe exactly how lipid droplets do this. Welte and his colleagues discovered, to their surprise, that the storage function is not static— the H2Av molecules are constantly shuffled back and forth between lipid droplets. The exchange allows the fruit fly embryo to always have free H2Av available to transport into the cell nucleus, but at the same time keeps the concentration of free H2Av low so that it is transported to the nucleus at a slower pace—a pace more in sync with the speed of DNA synthesis.

Identifying these functions of lipid droplets gives researchers more insight into how embryos develop and survive: without lipid droplets regulating H2Av, embryos can become compromised.

What we now know about the various functions of lipid droplets also means that researchers need to consider these factors when examining the effects of obesity. Lipid droplets are dysfunctional in disease states like obesity (too many lipid droplets) or lipodystrophies (too few lipid droplets), Welte says. “The cause of these diseases—too much or too little fat—has to do with how much lipid you have. Our work suggests that when looking at these disease states, people also need to look at what happens to the proteins, because these lipids droplets have this second function beyond handling fat.”

Read more here.

Health researchers and community partners can map local health outcomes and social determinants of health using the new Roc Health Data website, found at RocHealthData.Org.

The newly launched website contains extensive information on the region’s health challenges and resources shown in both map and report formats.

The Roc Health Data is built within the CARES Engagement Network, a publicly accessible data-sharing platform containing thousands of layers of mapped data. The local hub site uses this national information backbone to build a site for local data and allows users to generate maps by geographical area (i.e., the City of Rochester, counties, or census tracts in our region) and topic (i.e. food insecurity, tobacco use, or mental health status).

These data are readily available to support hub members’ grant applications, project recruitment efforts, and for the development of public health initiatives. Researchers and community partners who register at the site may also share data in report or map form with the larger community, which is often required by funding agencies.

The site also highlights hub members’ research on its homepage, swapping in new projects each month. Currently, the site features a project mapping the variability in cancer rates across our region to better inform cancer care and prevention efforts at the Wilmot Cancer Institute.

To become a member, go to RocHealthData.org and click register. Members must agree to protect personal health information when sharing data. You can also find a link to Roc Health Data at the bottom of the UR CTSI’s Resources webpage.

University faculty members now have access to three databases linking them to peer-reviewed literature, academic citations, and the research performance of potential collaborators.

The River Campus Libraries have obtained licenses for:

Dimensions, a global analytical platform from Digital Science that makes more than 860 million academic citations freely available, and delivers one-click access to more than 9 million Open Access articles. Clinical trial and patent information is also available.

Scopus, from Elsevier, is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-review literature, such as scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. The database includes 5,000 publishers, 71 million records, and 23,700 titles.

SciVal Scholar, from Elsevier, is a bibliometric tool that uses Scopus data to analyze the research performance of individual researchers or groups at 9,800 institutions in 230 nations to help identify potential collaborators.

The licenses were obtained through a collaboration involving River Campus Libraries, Global Engagement, the Office of Research, and AS&E Research.

Questions can be directed to Lindsay Cronk.

(The Shared Resource Laboratories (SRL) have invested $3 million in the last year in new state-of-the-art instrumentation.  These advanced technologies will enhance the University’s research capabilities in microscopy, mass spectrometry, genomics, and flow cytometry.  This is the last in a series on the new instrumentation.)

Mass spectrometry is a methodology for the analysis and quantification of complex collections of proteins, peptides, lipids, and small molecule metabolites.

Recent advances in mass spectrometry have provided more powerful tools for high-throughput analysis of proteins that are widely used in medical and biological research.

For the second time in three years, Sina Ghaemmaghami, an assistant professor of biology, and the Mass Spectrometry Resource Laboratory received an NIH-SIG grant to purchase new state of the art instrumentation.

The Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribrid Mass Spectrometer became available for research use starting June 1.  The instrument takes on the proteomic analysis work formerly tasked to the core’s Q Exactive Plus Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer, which was also partially funded by an NIH-SIG grant in 2016.

The Q Exactive Plus has been converted into a small molecule analysis instrument, allowing the ability to perform untargeted metabolic experiments.

The Fusion Lumos has increased speed and sensitivity, resulting in more peptide and protein identifications and allows the MSRL to dramatically improve the quality and quantity of data from customer samples.   The combination of the ion trap and Orbitrap enables MS3 analysis, which greatly increases the accuracy of multiplexed TMT experiments.  New ETD fragmentation methods keep PTM modifications intact, improving localization accuracy.

(The Shared Resource Laboratories, which are directed by Tim Bushnell, provide leading edge services and instrumentation to researchers across the University.  The new acquisitions were made possible through a combination of internal investment, NIH grant supplements, and NIH SIG grants.)

Presenters at the Humanities Center’s Jesse L. Rosenberger Work-in-Progress seminar series this fall are:

Sept. 13: Jacob Lewis, visiting assistant professor of art history.
Sept. 26:  Alison Frontier, professor of chemistry.
Oct. 4: Christopher Rovee, Humanities Center fellow.
Oct. 17: John Kapusta, assistant professor of musicology.
Nov. 1: Lihong Liu, assistant professor of art and art history.
Nov. 14: Darren Mueller, assistant professor of musicology.
Dec. 12: Kate Mariner, assistant professor of anthropology.

Topics TBA.

The seminars are held from noon to 2 p.m. in the Humanities Center Conference Room D. Lunch is provided.

PumpPrimer is AS&E’s intramural seed funding program designed to stimulate extramural funding for projects otherwise difficult to launch.  The next deadline to apply for PumpPrimer II awards — for innovative and high-risk projects — is October 15, 2018.

The increasing competitive environment for extramural funding increases the need for proof of concept and/or pilot data in proposals and reduces funding for high-risk proposals.  To help faculty secure extramural funding for bold new research directions, these awards will provide funding for up to one year.

• Typical budgets will be up to $50,000
• Cost-sharing with departmental resources are encouraged
• All eligibility criterion is enumerated in the guidelines

Applicants for PumpPrimer II are expected to submit a proposal for extramural funding within 18 months of the allocation of intramural support.  PumpPrimer grants will require a brief and final survey/final report to help us evaluate the effectiveness of this program.  Awardees will be expected to review for the program in future cycles.

Faculty in Arts & Sciences should refer questions to debra.haring@rochester.edu, and those in engineering to cindy.gary@rochester.edu.

PumpPrimer I and Research Mobility funds are also available and applications are accepted any time.

Alyssa Ibarra, brain and cognitive sciences and linguistics, “Understanding reference generation as a goal-oriented and dynamic process.” 1 p.m., August 29, 2018. 269 Meliora Hall. Advisors: Michael Tanenhaus and Jeffrey Runner.

Aug. 27: Deadline to apply to the Pilot Studies Program of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) for seed funding for highly innovative research that spans the translational spectrum in three categories: faculty, trainee, and UNYTE Translational Research Network. View the Request for Applications (RFA).

Aug. 27: Deadline to apply to the CTSI Incubator Program for “super-pilot projects,” two years in duration, that are intended to accelerate innovative scientific discovery in the life sciences and public health, leading to new independently funded research programs. Each award is funded at a maximum level of $125,000 per year for each of two years. View the Request for Applications (RFA).

Sept. 7: 60th Annual Clare Dennison Lecture: “Improving Lives Through Research.” Presented by Nancy Dianis, (’85 MS), vice president of Westat’s Clinical Trials Area. She directs epidemiologic studies and clinical trials relating to global health at the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 11 to noon. Helen Wood Hall 1W-304. Register by Thursday, August 30.  For additional information or questions, contact the Office of Alumni Relations.

Sept. 14:  Workshop on basic components of writing successful proposals for humanities grants and fellowships, plus writing session so that you can kick-start your proposals. 10 to 11:30 a.m., Rush Rhees Library Instruction Room B.  The session will end with an opportunity for immediate feedback on your proposal drafts and ideas. Geared toward graduate students in the humanities, but open to all interested grad students. Bring a laptop, and RSVP here.

Sept. 17: Deadline to apply for the Falling Walls competition. Winner of the Rochester competition, to be held October 2 in the Feldman Ballroom, will receive $500 and a trip to the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin, November 7 to 9. Presenters will each have three minutes and three slides to summarize their groundbreaking ideas. Click here to register. Contact Adele Coelho, faculty outreach coordinator, at adele.coelho@rochester.edu for additional information.

Sept. 20: Department of Surgery Research Symposium. Justin Dimick, the George D. Zuidema Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan, will present “Innovative Approaches for Improving Surgical Quality” from 7 to 8 a.m. in the Class of ’62 Auditorium. Following the grand rounds will be an abstract competition (8 to 9:15 a.m.), a poster competition (9:30 to 10:30 a.m.), and research fair (9:30 a.m. to noon).

Sept. 24: Deadline to apply for Novel Biostatistical and Epidemiologic Methods awards to overcome specific analytic limitations and significantly enhance the validity and accuracy, scope, or speed of clinical or translational research. A maximum of $35,000 will be awarded for a one-year period. View the request for applications (RFA).

Sept. 27: Workshop on Developmental Programming of Disease, focusing on current understanding of mechanisms that underlie early life programming. 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Class of ’62 Auditorium. Offered by the Department of Environmental Medicine and the University’s Environmental Health Science Center. Free and open to all. Registration is requested for ordering refreshments. Read more here.

Sept. 27: 8th annual Dr. Bernard Guyer Lecture in Public Health: “A Vaccine Meets a Strategy: Eliminating Epidemic Meningitis From Sub-Saharan Africa.” Presented by Marc LaForce, who directed the Meningitis Vaccine Project from 2001 to 2012. Noon. Helen Wood Hall Auditorium.

Sept. 30: Deadline for Medical Center tenure track faculty and their chairpersons to apply for up to $75,000 in bridge funding during a hiatus in research support. All questions and applications should be directed to Anne Reed. For more information, click here.

Oct. 11: Pediatric Research Celebration Day. Lecture by Paul A. Offit, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases; an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology; and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine. Noon to 1 p.m., Class of ’62 Auditorium. Scientific poster session 11 a.m.  to noon and 1 to 2 p.m., Flaum Atrium.

Oct. 15: Deadline to apply for AS&E PumpPrimer II awards for innovative and high-risk research projects. Click here for guidelines. Faculty in Arts & Sciences should refer questions to debra.haring@rochester.edu and those in engineering to cindy.gary@rochester.edu. PumpPrimer I and Research Mobility funds are also available and applications are accepted any time.

Oct. 29: “The Future is Today: Transforming the Care of Childhood Onset Chronic Health Conditions.” UR Complex Care Center’s Second Annual Conference, co-sponsored by UR CTSI’s UNYTE Translational Research Network. 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Class of ’62 Auditorium. Click here to register.