VAPA connects contact sites to surfactant homeostasis.

A homozygous VAPA variant is linked to systemic disease and reveals VAPA’s role in surfactant homeostasis via ABCA3-dependent ER–lamellar body contacts.

• Why it matters: It addresses how membrane contact-site proteins gain tissue-specific functions and what organelle communication pathways underlie systemic disease.
• What they did: Grimanelli et al. identified a homozygous VAPA variant and tested how VAPA regulates surfactant homeostasis using ABCA3-dependent ER–lamellar body contact mechanisms.
• The result: The findings connect VAPA-mediated organelle contacts to surfactant regulation, implying broader roles for VAPA across tissues through organelle communication.

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