Xinnan Wang Lab

Ketogenic diet dampens excitatory neurotransmission by shrinking synaptic vesicle pools Stunault et al. show that the ketogenic diet drives extensive transcriptional reprogramming of the hippocampus through histone post-translational modifications, leading to altered short-term plasticit...

Ever wondered why ketogenic diets protect against epilepsies? We found profound synaptic remodeling that alters integration of excitatory and inhibitory inputs in the hippocampus and may thus be seizure-protective: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Our new review is out! Likely once an independent organism, mitochondria have retained a striking degree of autonomy. We discuss their capacity to sense within—a process we refer to as mitochondrial inside-out signaling. Written by talented @furkanoflaz.bsky.social @signscaztl.bsky.social

Congratulations Andy on this beautiful study! Thanks for including us!

Functional Impairment in Miro Degradation and Mitophagy Is a Shared Feature in Familial and Sporadic Parkinson’s Disease Using iPSC-derived neurons and other models, Hsieh et al. uncover a defect in clearance of damaged mitochondria in Parkinson’s disease. They show that in mutant cells, the mitochondrial outer membrane...

Our previous papers: www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...; www.cell.com/cell-metabol...; www.nature.com/articles/s42...; www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Methodological validation of Miro1 retention as a candidate Parkinson’s disease biomarker - npj Parkinson's Disease npj Parkinson's Disease - Methodological validation of Miro1 retention as a candidate Parkinson’s disease biomarker

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Happy to see our previous studies showing Miro1 resistance to mitochondrial depolarization in PD and the efficacy of Miro1-binding compounds are fully validated in independent cohorts by Julia Fitzgerald's group: doi: 10.1038/s41531-025-01115-8

We had so much fun presenting 5 posters at Stanford Bio-X Symposium!

Putative PINK1/Parkin activators lower the threshold for mitophagy by sensitizing cells to mitochondrial stress Drugs targeting mitochondrial removal show unexpected mechanisms with implications for Parkinson’s therapeutics.

Putative PINK1/Parkin activators lower the threshold for mitophagy by sensitizing cells to mitochondrial stress www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Mitochondrial pearling and zipping 🤔! So cool! Inspiring talk from @sulianamanley.bsky.social

Clu1/Clu form mitochondria-associated granules upon metabolic transitions and regulate mitochondrial protein translation via ribosome interactions Author summary Mitochondria are essential cellular organelles that perform many important roles in regulating metabolism. They are dynamic in form, function and composition which is crucial to maintai...

Delighted to share our latest work looking at the role of the RNA-binding proteins Clu1 (yeast)/Clu (flies) in regulating the translation of #mitochondria proteins. Really interesting regulator of mito biology.

Huge, long-running effort by PDRA Leonor Miller-Fleming 👏
dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

2025 Stanford Biology Preview Program Application The Stanford Biology Preview Program (BPP) aims to support scholars through the PhD application process. The Stanford BPP offers virtual workshops to provide insight into the Stanford Biology PhD Prog...

Please share! We are accepting applications for the Biology Preview Program, which aims to make the PhD application process accessible and work with students to strenghten applications. Participants will receive a fee waiver, work 1:1 w/ a mentor, and meet w/faculty. Link: forms.gle/1xBShmvot5Vr...

Caspase-11 drives macrophage hyperinflammation in models of Polg-related mitochondrial disease - Nature Communications Mitochondrial diseases lead to chronic health impairment, aggravated by infections and other environmental exposures. Here authors show, in a mouse model of polymerase gamma (Polg)-related mitochondri...

Delighted to share our paper describing how type I interferon promotes caspase-11 hyperactivity in models of PolG-related mitochondrial disease. Thanks to all co-authors and the POLG Foundation for for their support. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mitochondrial calcium signaling regulates branched-chain amino acid catabolism in fibrolamellar carcinoma Mitochondrial Ca2+ signaling regulates branched-chain amino acid catabolism in an adolescent liver cancer.

Our paper on regulation of BCAA catabolism by mitochondrial calcium signaling is out!
Mitochondrial calcium signaling regulates branched-chain amino acid catabolism in fibrolamellar carcinoma | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Silencing mitochondrial gene expression in living cells Mitochondria fulfill central functions in metabolism and energy supply. They express their own genome, which encodes key subunits of the oxidative phosphorylation system. However, central mechanisms u...

Researchers in Science have developed a tool to silence specific mitochondria-encoded mRNAs in living cells, which could help scientists understand the origins of certain mitochondria-related diseases. scim.ag/3F6Wm5d

Congratulations Furkan!

Flyer for the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium (including QR code in top right corner). This symposium highlights the work of exceptional early-career scientists in the broad field of quantitative biological and biomedical sciences, with a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship, and community engagement. These early career scientists are preparing to launch a faculty search. Applications are due May 30th, 2025.

Hello Community!
Are you a postdoc/grad student preparing to launch a faculty search? Do you have a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship & community engagement? Apply to the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium: www.berkeleystanfordnextgensymposium.com! Pls repost! (1/3)

ARMC1 partitions between distinct complexes and assembles MIRO with MTFR to control mitochondrial distribution ARMC1 partitions between distinct outer mitochondrial membrane complexes and the cytosol to control mitochondrial distribution.

ARMC1 partitions between distinct complexes and assembles MIRO with MTFR to control mitochondrial distribution | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Small molecules restore mutant mitochondrial DNA polymerase activity - Nature An activator of DNA polymerase γ restores function to disease-causing mutant variants and demonstrates a potential route to treatments for inherited mitochondrial disorders involving POLG mutations.

New paper out from the Falkenberg and Gustafsson labs. Thanks to Pretzel for a successful collaboration.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mitochondria in the Nervous System The brain is a high energy-demanding tissue with an heterogenous cellular composition. Most of the energy consumed is used for maintenance of neuronal synaptic transmission, and neurons almost exclus…

Thrilled to announce that the registration for the EMBO workshop „Mitochondria in the Nervous System“ is now open.
Join us from Sep 29th to Oct 2nd in beautiful Engelberg, Switzerland!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-mit...

Beautiful paper on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) stress sensing, from our postdoc Alva Sainz @signscaztl.bsky.social of her Ph.D work in the Shadel lab!

Impressive #MitoSky 🦋 in Japan! #MBSJ2024

We had a nice lab visit from Gordon Freedman, the mastermind of MitoWorld - seems a great initiative: mitoworld.org

Hi everyone, really enjoy the fresh air here and meeting new people! Thanks to @colemanlab.bsky.social for the nudge! We study everything related to mitochondria. Hope to form more connections and conversations! Some blue sky pics from a fantastic nature conference on mito and immunity in September.

Welcome to @xinnanwanglab.bsky.social - a star of mitochondrial dynamics in neurons!😀

Thank you so much Michael 😊, and for the introduction!