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In this study, Patrick et al. provide insight into the regulation of branched-chain amino acid metabolism and its impact on whole-body physiology by identifying and characterizing a metabolon formation.
Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are an integral part of the innate immune system. This Review discusses how ILC function is regulated by both intrinsic and extrinsic metabolic pathways, and how ILCs contribute to metabolic disease.
Schneeberger et al. show that glutamatergic neurons within the dorsal raphe nucleus of the brainstem are enriched with the orexin 1 receptor Hcrtr1, which can be pharmacologically targeted to treat obesity in mice.
Adipose tissue is a specialized connective tissue and a major endocrine organ. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) secretes factors that modulate whole-body metabolic homeostasis and can affect distant organs. The discovery that BAT-secreted neuregulin 4 influences atherosclerotic progression opens new opportunities for treating atherosclerosis.
Work in non-mammalian model organisms has shed light on many fundamental biological processes. At Nature Metabolism, we are interested in studies that make use of the unique advantages of these models to unravel new insights into metabolic biology.
Bondareva and Rodríguez-Aguilera et al. use scRNA-seq to analyze transcriptomes of 375,000 endothelial cells from seven organs in male mice at various stages of obesity to identify organ-specific vulnerabilities.
Shi et al. show that neuregulin-4 derived from brown adipose tissue can reduce endothelial injury and inflammation and alleviate atherosclerosis in male mice, via Akt and nuclear factor-κB signaling
The authors of this Perspective discuss the remarkable plasticity of the intestine in response to dietary and physiological changes, and highlight the importance of intestinal remodelling and metabolism in maintaining energy balance of the organism.
The immune-modulatory metabolite itaconate is secreted by myeloid-derived suppressor cells and taken up by CD8+ T cells to suppress their proliferation and function. In mice, blocking itaconate production enhances the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade.
Itaconate is a metabolite with immune-modulatory effects in myeloid cells. In this study, Zhao, Teng et al. report an additional role for itaconate in CD8+ T cells, with implications for immune surveillance and anti-tumour immunity.
As emerging clinical analyses suggest an increased risk of new-onset diabetes following COVID-19, a causal link and underlying mechanisms are yet to be established. Persistence of hyperglycaemia after disease regression and the potential infection of non-pancreatic tissue are adding another layer of complexity to the relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus.
Diener and Dai et al. analyse blood metabolites from 1,569 individuals and identify metabolites associated with the microbiome, host genetics or under hybrid genetic–microbiome control.
Rahbani et al. show that the α1-adrenergic receptor potentiates thermogenesis in thermogenic adipocytes, acting via Gαq signalling, creatine kinase B and tissue-non-specific alkaline phosphatase.
Fenofibrate has been shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro. Results from a randomized clinical trial show that treating patients with COVID-19 with fenofibrate has no significant effect on clinically relevant outcomes.