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In this article entitled “The A2357T substitution in the kinase domain of yeast Tor1 confers growth promoting TORC1 activity independent of Gtr1/2 and Pib2” and published by Christopher Dereppe and collaborators, we report the isolation of a mutant form of the Tor1 kinase that remains active despite loss of the two main upstream activators of TORC1. This Tor1 mutant is particulary interesting because previous studies have identified an equivalent mutation in human mTOR from multiple cancer cells.
Alex Deschamps and Bruno André participated to the 40th edition of the « Small Meeting on Yeast Transport and Energetics (SMYTE) » organized in Stockholm (Sept 3 – 6, 2025) by Pr. Per Ljungdahl. The Smyte annually gathers scientists from all countries who are interested in diverse aspects yeast membrane transporters: structure-function relationships, regulation, and signaling properties. This Smyte was exceptional as it was the 40th edition of the meeting. Both Bruno and Alex were invited to give oral presentations and Alex also presented a poster. It was a great pleasure to meet again many colleagues and friends of the « yeast membrane transport » community, including our collaborators Christos Gournas and Melody Cools (Labiris institute, Anderlecht).
Alexandre Deschamps has attented a summer doctoral school organized at Peyresq (4 – 8 August). The school organized by Pr. Karim Zouaoui and colleagues offered a critical reflection on the validity of scientific results through case studies from various fields. It also examined the reliability of sources, the use and limitations of indirect techniques, as well as the impact of confirmation bias and preconceptions in research. A very interesting summer school in a wonderful place.
Almost our entire lab team attended the conference held at ULB on April 25. The talk, entitled “Les religions: un frein à la connaissance scientifique“, was delivered by Prof. Kristoff Talin, a CNRS professor of sociology in France. He presented very insightful findings from his research, and the conference was introduced with a brief historical reflection on the principle of “libre examen”.
It was a great pleasure to host Prof. George Diallinas (University of Athens, Greece), who delivered an outstanding seminar on March 2 entitled ‘A major Golgi-independent trafficking route for non-polarized plasma membrane cargoes unveiled in Aspergillus nidulans’.
Great news ! Alex Deschamps was informed by the FNRS that he’s among the laureates of the last competition for PhD fellowship of the FRIA call. Not a big surprise as his interview went very well, but always nice to receive the official decision. Alex obtained a master diploma in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2024 at ULB. He did his master thesis work in our lab where he investigated the potential role of two enzymes in redox homeostasis of the yeast vacuole. Welcome Alex, and keep enjoying Science !
Chloé Troch was supported by the FNRS to attend a meeting at the Cold Spring Harbor Asia congres center about « Iron, Reactive Oxygen Species & Ferroptosis in Life, Death & Disease » (Nov 3 – 8, 2024). She represented in a poster her results about the influence of iron on redox homeostasis of the yeast lysosome (vacuole).
Christopher Dereppe attended the “6th European Workshop on AMK and AMPK-related kinases ». He represented in a poster his results about the influence of Snf1, the yeast AMPK kinase, on TORC1.
Chloé Troch and B. André attended the “Mechanisms and Consequences of Redox Signaling” conference in Barcelona (July 14–19). Chloé presented a poster summarizing her first results about the mechanisms involved in redox homeostasis of the yeast vacuole. This meeting, a Gordon Research Conference, centred “its discussions around the range of emerging redox-based signaling pathways employed to sense and offset redox changes to support cell function or target cells for destruction. A key challenge is understanding how redox signaling mechanisms facilitate communication between molecules, organelles, cells, and organisms to initiate different outcomes.“
On May 24th, Nadia Guarini publicly presented her PhD work and successfully received her diploma. Her research dealt with the molecular relationships between membrane transporters and TORC1, a kinase complex playing a pivotal role in control of cell growth. More specifically, she focused on initial TORC1 activation upon nutrient uptake into yeast cells and the important role in this process of the most abundant cell surface protein, namely the H+-pump encoded by the PMA1 gene. The signal of this activation is the influx of H+ coupled to active nutrient uptake via permeases and sensed by the Pma1 H+ pump. Nadia has solved the long-sought question of what are the protein kinases and phosphatases mediating Pma1 phosphoregulation and she also uncovered an interesting negative feedback control of Pma1 by activated TORC1. Congratulations to Nadia for her scientific achievements and thanks to her for the excellent time spent with her in the lab !
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