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Eating requires the sensing in the stomach of not only nutrients, but also volume. A study in Nature Metabolism shows that stretch activation of PIEZO1 on X/A-like cells of the stomach reduces ghrelin production and secretion, which consequently reduces food intake.
Sharma et al. review the regulation and biological functions of apparently ‘futile’ dynamic lipid cycle in regulating whole-body metabolic homeostasis.
Zhang, Fang, et al. develop a method to perform an in-depth lysine succinylation analysis in the mouse liver. This approach allows them to identify a previously unappreciated mechanism of regulation of the urea cycle and ammonia detoxification.
A recent study in Nature Metabolism uncovers a mechanism for pain sensitization that involves a regulatory protein of glycogen metabolism in spinal astrocytes. Targeting this protein, or the lactate fluxes linked to glycogen breakdown, may provide novel opportunities for pain management.
In this study in humans, the authors describe distinct phases of adaptions in the plasma proteome to seven days without food, and identify limited associations of protein changes with weight loss.
The authors describe distinct phases of adaptions in the human plasma proteome to 7 days without food, with profound changes occurring only after 2 days.
In this issue of Nature Metabolism, it is shown that the abundance of Caenorhabditis elegans branched-chain aminotransferase-1 (BCAT-1) — which catalyses the first step of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism — declines sharply in aged wild-type nematodes but not in slowly ageing mutants, and that stimulating BCAA catabolism extends reproductive longevity.
In male mice with diet-induced obesity, deletion of insulin inhibitory receptor (inceptor) in the whole body, in the brain and in pancreatic β cells improves glucose homeostasis, underlining a role of inceptor in regulating glucose homeostasis in the brain and pancreas.
The microbiome is implicated in a study that involves the metabolism of dietary fibre into short-chain fatty acids, which provides a biochemical link to the poorly understood histone butyrylation.
The authors report a genetic screening method that preserves mitochondrial physiology under cell permeabilization, which allows in-depth genetic dissection of mitochondrial bioenergetics.
Gates et al. show that histone butyrylation and propionylation in the intestinal epithelium are regulated by the gut microbiota and histone butyrylation is associated with gene regulatory programmes.
Resistant starch is a prebiotic fibre that is fermented by the gut microbiota and leads to benefits for host physiology. A clinical trial in Nature Metabolism demonstrates weight loss when resistant starch was given to individuals with excess weight.
Individuals with osteoporosis have increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive impairment during ageing. We elucidated a partial explanation for bone dysmetabolism’s association with such cognitive decline, by demonstrating how elevated sclerostin secretion from osteocytes in bone impaired cognitive function in aged mice and in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model.
The authors show that abnormal elevation of osteocyte-derived sclerostin deregulates Wnt–β-catenin signalling in the brain and aggravates cognitive impairment under pathological conditions.
In a randomized placebo-controlled trial in 37 individuals with excess body weight, dietary supplementation with resistant starch lowers body weight and induces changes in gut microbiota composition. Mechanistic analysis in male mice shows that resistant starch at least partially facilitates weight loss through the action of Bifidobacteriumadolescentis.