[New article available] First Author Interview: Dr Masahiro Maruoka

A new article has been added to “First Author Interview”. The new interview is with Dr Masahiro Maruoka of iCeMS Suzuki Lab.

In the series, we invite the first authors of a recently published manuscript for a letter-based interview on their work. In particular, we ask the author to tell us the behind-the-scenes story of their manuscript, as experienced personally by the author but not communicated directly in the manuscript.

As new cells are born, old cells that are no longer being used meet their end, and thus maintain homeostasis in the living organisms. The lipid called phosphatidylserine acts as a marker when displayed on an old cell's surface and is recognized by phagocytes which then remove the dead cell. In this study, Dr Maruoka, Prof Suzuki and their colleagues shed light on the regulatory mechanism of lipid dynamics which occurs when cells die.