
New research model illuminates how organs communicate with each other Scripps Research, University of Southern California and collaborators uncover the proteins involved in key communication networks, which could help us better understand conditions like cancer and obesity.
August 17, 2022
LA JOLLA, CA Our many different organ systems are in constant communication with each other. During exercise, for example, muscles send out signals to fat and liver tissue to release their energy sources. While these communication networks play a critical role in our bodies every day, it has been historically difficult to uncover such pathways. Scientists at Scripps Research, University of Southern California and elsewhere have now successfully created a model to label and track the protein signals that enable organ-to-organ communication.
As the researchers described in Open Biology on August 10, 2022, their new mouse model marks the proteins that a cell secretes and tracks their movement throughout the body. This novel technology could shape our molecular understanding of healthy versus diseased tissue, as well as the role that inter-organ communication plays in disease onset and progression.
This new model can be likened to establishing a passport system in the body, as we are identifying where proteins are coming from and where they're going, says study co-first author Ilia Droujinine, PhD, Scripps fellow and principial investigator in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research. We can finally bring these interconnected communications networks to light, and then develop treatments based on this new knowledge. Rui Yang and Amanda S. Meyer of the University of Southern California were also co-first authors and key contributors to this work.
Researchers have used other methods, such as viral approaches, to understand protein secretion and the ways that organs communicate with each other. While these techniques have provided invaluable insight into the proteins expressed in an organism, they aren't sensitive enough to label low-abundance proteins, or the origin and ultimate destination of protein interactions. But with this new model, scientists are now able to understand the exact path a particular protein takes.
In the study, the researchers used an enzyme called BirA*G3, which labels secreted proteins with a biotin tag. These biotin labels were then detected in live mice using a method called quantitative mass spectrometry proteomics, which is used to measure proteins in a sample. This revealed where the proteins originated from and where they traveled to in the body.
When BirA*G3 was broadly activated throughout the body, the researchers found that all secreted proteins were successfully labeled, even low-abundance proteins with hormone-like properties. Likewise, when BirA*G3 was activated solely in the liver, only secreted proteins related to that organ system were highlighted displaying the high specificity of the model as well.
Given the central role of key secreted proteins such as insulin, there is a great deal of interest in identifying novel secreted proteins, said Andrew McMahon, PhD, senior author of the study and chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Southern California. Genome studies are suggesting that many new proteins remain to be characterized. We're looking forward to a deep dive into this area now that we have validated the technology.
There are countless research applications for this technology, Droujinine notes. With this type of model, scientists can start to map unexplored disease pathways and ultimately develop targeted treatments, as many diseases originate in a single organ and then eventually spread to others. Cancer, with its metastatic properties, is one example. For another, studies have shown that many of the health complications that arise from obesity could be due to faulty organ communication, yet many of the molecular mechanisms remain unknown.
Any protein we discover that plays a role in disease has the potential be translated into a therapeutic, adds Droujinine.
In addition to Droujinine and McMahon, authors of the study, A genetic model for in vivo proximity labelling of the mammalian secretome, include Rui Yang, Amanda S. Meyer, Jinjin Guo, Jill A. McMahon of the University of Southern California (USC); Namrata D. Udeshi, Dominique K. Carey, Charles Xu and Steven A. Carr of Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; Yanhui Hu, David Rocco and Norbert Perrimon of Harvard Medical School; Qiao Fang of University of Toronto; Jihui Sha and James Wohlschlege of UCLA; Shishang Qin of Peking University; and Alice Y. Ting of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.
This work was supported by a NIH Transformative R01 grant 5R01DK121409 to A.P.M., A.Y.T., S.A.C. and N.P., and HHMI funding to N.P. I.A.D. acknowledges support from the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation.
Molecular and Cellular Biology Droujinine, Ilia
North America Stories
25/08/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced that Law&Crime has migrated its Court TV channel, s...
25/08/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast and media industry, is showcasing the breadth of its ca...
25/08/2026
Thatcham, UK 25 August 2026: Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced that leading broadcast rental company Minitech has purchased a Le...
25/08/2026
Appear's X20 Platform enables visually lossless video contribution with sub-frame latency and full path redundancy for TVTEL's centralised VAR operation...
25/08/2026
World-first demonstration combines 5G Broadcast and Media over QUIC for seamless, ultra-low-latency hybrid media delivery
Big Blue Marble will showcase new dev...
25/08/2026
MNC Software, a global leader in network management and operational support systems tailored to the broadcast and media industry, will showcase its complete sof...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Company to Demonstrate Practical AI Applications That Add Value Today and Longer-Term Path Toward Agentic AI
At IBC2026 (Sept. 11 14, RAI Amsterdam, Stand #1.B...
25/08/2026
Serving South Florida with a unique blend of jazz, Latin jazz, salsa, reggae, blues, and culturally reflective programming, WDNA 88.9FM operates as both a tradi...
25/08/2026
GlobalM announced that it is integrating its GMX software-defined media platform with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), bringing together Oracle's global c...
24/08/2026
Co-authors Mike Soltys and Garrett Sutton reflect on Rasmussen's vision, intentional optimism,' and fan-first philosophy following his death last week...
24/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/08/2026
As the broadcast industry moves toward more flexible production platforms, Calrec will present its evolving audio ecosystem at IBC 2026, on Stand 8.C47. The dem...
24/08/2026
Stop Using Boring Static Highlights - Pro After Effects Workflow
Graham Quince August 24, 2026
0 Comments
Did you know you can use After Effects expre...
24/08/2026
Paledusk Performance Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton August 24, 2026
0 Comments
Creative production company THINGS. brings the band'...
24/08/2026
According to OpenRouter data, agentic AI workloads consume 15x more tokens than ...
24/08/2026
The next era of AI inference won't be defined by a single breakthrough chip,...
24/08/2026
To generate intelligence at scale, AI factories run continuously, and their economics are defined by delivered output: tokens per second, tokens per watt, cost ...
22/08/2026
O'Shea Jackson Jr., Dave Franco, and Mason Thames appear in Idiots by Macon Blair, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of ...
22/08/2026
By the time Hacks reached its fifth and final season, Adam Bricker ASC had spent six years shaping one of television's most distinctive visual identities. T...
22/08/2026
Polsat reclaims second place, ByteDance climbs to eighth, and live football miti...
22/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/08/2026
Avid brings agentic media production to IBC2026
Brie Clayton August 21, 2026
0 Comments
After launching Avid Content Core at NAB 2026, Avid expands it...
22/08/2026
Making of Lord of the Flies Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
Brie Clayton August 21, 2026
0 Comments
Filmmaker Lisa Marie Russo shoots on the bea...
22/08/2026
Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Dogs in a Pile The rising jam band talks about where it all started on the Berklee campus ahead of their Homecoming performance o...
22/08/2026
Berklee Alumna Lexi Vollero MA '22 Receives Fulbright Award to Brazil Vollero, a Berklee NYC graduate, has been selected for a Fulbright Open Research Awa...
21/08/2026
A massive deployment of specialty cameras, graphics, and AR will showcase the na...
21/08/2026
The West Coast Conference unveiled its new 30-second public service announcement, the latest expression of the Conference's We Rise in the West brand iden...
21/08/2026
New look will serve as the foundation for ESPN's upcoming NFL season and Sup...
21/08/2026
ESPN will air the ninth annual MLB Little League Classic presented by New York Life on Sunday, August 23, at 7 p.m. ET from Historic Bowman Field in Williamspor...
21/08/2026
In an emotional acceptance speech in Canton, Grossman celebrated the pioneering ...
21/08/2026
Our priority was making the best, most powerful, most meaningful story possible,...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Avid will unveil how it is transforming production to help media organizations unite content, agentic workflows, and business insights at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterda...
21/08/2026
New routing, modular processing, orchestration and monitoring capabilities bridge dedicated hardware and software-based processing as part of the Dynamic Media ...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...