Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Jiou Wang’s lab studies fundamental mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, which are often associated with cellular stress and disrupted energy metabolism. They have discovered a unique type of ribonucleoprotein granule that can be formed under energy deficiency stress conditions. 

 Stress granules, or SGs, comprising condensed proteins and RNAs, are a type of membraneless organelle induced by certain stressors. Researchers studying cells with disrupted energy metabolism found a new type of stress-induced granule: energy deficiency-induced stress granules. These eSGs have a distinct protein composition and higher RNA contents, suggestive of different functions. They also assemble differently, independent of translation factor eIF2α phosphorylation that is a hallmark of conventional SGs.

Neurons derived from patients with a major form of motor neuron degenerative disease, which have pre-existing metabolic disruptions, had abnormal eSG formation, suggesting its relevance to the disease processes. Full details, including more about eSG features and assembly, are in Intracellular energy controls dynamics of stress-induced ribonucleoprotein granules at Nature Communications.