Hello! I am excited to announce the publication of our first original research reporting the effects of a type of sugar modification, O-GlcNAcylation, on TRAP1 function. TRAP1 is a molecular chaperones known to act as a master regulator of metabolic flux. Our work showed that TRAP1 is GlcNAcylated following mitochondrial import and this modification suppresses TRAP1 activity. This suppression leads to a concomitant increase in oxidative metabolism. Further, TRAP1 expression controls modification of the mitochondrial GlcNAcome, perhaps through direct chaperoning of the GlcNAc-catalyzing enzymes OGT and/or OGA. This work wouldn't have been possible without the efforts of co-first authors Seungchan Kim and Dr. Sarah Backe, a Post-doc in Mehdi Mollapour's lab. Happy reading!
