Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have important roles in health and disease, but are chemically complex and difficult to measure accurately. This consensus statement proposes guidelines and best practices on the nomenclature and assessment of ROS, oxidative reactions and oxidative damage in cells, tissues and in vivo.

Glucose clamps are challenging to conduct in mice and experimental approaches vary between laboratories, which complicates data interpretation and comparison of results. Here, we highlight key methodological differences and propose reporting standards for glucose clamps.

Maria Ermolaeva and Liron Boyman share their scientific journeys in this instalment of Career pathways and highlight the value of mentors and collaborators, and the importance of following your research interests.

Nature Metabolism and the Nature journals are raising the standards for reporting on sex and gender in research. Starting this June, authors will be prompted to provide details on how sex and gender were considered in study design.

Hypothalamic AgRP neurons are shown to control peripheral and central levels of lysophospholipids in association with food deprivation, which leads to cortical excitability, hyperphagia and body weight gain.

Targeting extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling is a feasible avenue to prevent cancer aggressiveness and metastasis. In this study, Kay et al. show that metabolic flux in cancer-associated fibroblasts is coupled to enhanced proline synthesis by PYCR1 to support elevated production of collagen-rich ECM, thus contributing to cancer spreading.

Sugimoto et al. show that maresin 2, a specialized pro-resolving mediator that is secreted from brown adipose tissue upon cold exposure, contributes to amelioration of obesity-induced inflammation.

Li et al. show how mitochondrial content is regulated when oxygen is depleted, as well as how this process is impaired in cancer types related to the von Hippel–Lindau syndrome.

Hu and Zhao et al. identify a mechanism mediated by CCL18 and RFX5, through which tissue macrophages adapt their metabolic programme to nutrient stress in the context of autoimmune diseases.

Production of oxidized biomass is necessary to support cancer cell proliferation. In this work, Li et al. provide a quantitative analysis of the cellular needs and biochemical bottlenecks in lipid biosynthesis arising from the requirement to regenerate the cofactor NAD⁺.

Nature Metabolism and the Nature journals are raising the standards for reporting on sex and gender in research. Starting this June, authors will be prompted to provide details on how sex and gender were considered in study design.

Glucose clamps are challenging to conduct in mice and experimental approaches vary between laboratories, which complicates data interpretation and comparison of results. Here, we highlight key methodological differences and propose reporting standards for glucose clamps.

Global scientific collaboration should endure despite the humanitarian crisis in Europe.

One year ago, we introduced open access publishing at Nature Metabolism. Here, we review the publishing options for authors and our progress so far.

Coronavirus replication results in expenditure of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺), the central catalyst of cellular metabolism, in the innate response to infection. Repletion of NAD⁺ levels has the potential to enhance antiviral responses.