New structure found inside human cells could radically change health and medicine

 



Breakthrough discovery

Announced on June 25, 2025, by University of Virginia and NIH researchers, the hemifusome is an organelle formed by two vesicles partially fused through a “hemifusion diaphragm.” It's been visualized via cryo-electron tomography and acts as a “loading dock” for cellular cargo—sorting, recycling, and processing materials.

The structure is surprisingly common and shows up in various cell types, though it had been hidden until now.

“Snowman in a scarf” image

Dubbed the “snowman wearing a scarf” by media due to its distinctive shape (two circular vesicles connected by a thin membrane), this organsheet could unlock new biomedical insights.


Broad impact on health

Hemifusomes are implicated in diseases involving vesicle trafficking—such as Hermansky–Pudlak syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and possibly other genetic or immune disorders. Researchers describe them as a potentially revolutionary diagnostic and therapeutic target .

Structural uniqueness

They contain a proteolipid nanodroplet (~42 nm) at the junction and a large (~160 nm) hemifusion diaphragm—structures not seen in typical vesicle fusion—suggesting a novel ESCRT-independent vesicle formation mechanism

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