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Saad’s research published in Cell Reports!

October 7, 2021 by zrb8mf@virginia.edu

July 28, 2021.  Congratulations to Saad Hussain on the publication of his paper, “RalA and PLD1 promote lipid droplet growth in response to nutrient withdrawal” in the Journal Cell Reports.  This work started with an observation made by former undergraduate Ashley Ferguson that starvation-induced lipid droplet growth seemed blunted in cells lacking the small GTPase RalA.  With the help of Tuyet-Minh Tran, Chris Prevost, Jen Kashatus and former rotation student Melissa Luse, Saad was able to elucidate a surprising and elegant pathway through which RalA and PLD1 promote lipid droplet growth through localized production of phosphatidic acid.  Special thanks to Tim Ware and Ken Hsu for help with lipidomics!