The transcriptional corepressor CtBP2 serves as a metabolite sensor orchestrating hepatic glucose and lipid homeostasis

Protein keeps liver metabolism in check

31 May 2022

One protein helps orchestrate the metabolism of both fat and sugar in the liver, according to new research.

Our bodies metabolize food, breaking it down into smaller components that cells can use. Metabolic disorders such as diabetes can arise when these processes become out of balance. Also, cancer cells reprogram metabolic pathways. Scientists are thus anxious to discover how metabolism is kept in balance and how it gets out of kilter in diseases.

Now, a team led by researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan has found that a regulatory protein known as C-terminal binding protein 2 (CtBP2) plays a critical role in keeping sugar and fat metabolism in balance in the liver.

Obese mice were found to have low CtBP2 levels, and administering CtBP2 to them improved their metabolic balance. CtBP2 could thus offer a new approach for treating people with metabolic disorders.

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References

1. Nature Communications 12, 6315 (2021). doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26638-5