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Cancer metabolism adapts the metabolic network of its cell of origin. Mahendralingam et al. find that lineage-rooted metabolic identities of normal mammary cells reflect breast cancer subtype metabolism.
UCP1 is exclusively expressed in brown and beige adipocytes, where it drives thermogenesis through futile substrate cycling. Mills et al. identify a endocrine pathway mediated by the UCP1 catabolic circuit that antagonizes liver inflammation by lowering the concentration of succinate in the liver extracellular fluid.
Using a CRISPR genetic screen for solute transporters and a metabolic compound library screen, Li et al. identify purine transport and de novo synthesis as key regulators of BRD4, a histone acetylation reader.
Irx3 and Irx5 are effectors of the FTO locus, which is associated with obesity. Son et al. show regulation of hypothalamic neurogenesis by Irx3 and Irx5, uncovering a role for these genes in leptin response and energy homeostasis.
Teijeiro et al. find that IL-17A pathogenically reprograms adipocytes and that pharmacological targeting of IL-17A production with digoxin protects mice from diet-induced obesity.
Weng et al. demonstrate that colchicine’s well-known anti-inflammatory effects are not due its direct action on immune cells but are indirect effects, mediated by hepatokines such as GDF15, which are released as a result of colchicine action in the liver.
Shamsi et al. identify vascular smooth muscle cells marked by expression of Trpv1 as a part of the cellular lineage of brown and beige fat. Cold stimulates the expansion and differentiation of Trpv1-expressing progenitors to highly thermogenic adipocytes.
Wyatt et al. explore glycaemic responses after a standardized meal and find that postprandial glycaemic dip is a predictor of hunger and subsequent energy intake.
NADPH exists in separate cellular pools within the cytosol and mitochondria. Tran et al. find that mitochondrial NADPH is essential to enable proline biosynthesis during cell growth.
Using whole-exome sequencing data, Gorelick et al. identify lineage-specific somatic mutations in mitochondrial DNA that affect cancer progression and patient prognosis.
The Drosophila white mutant has been used extensively for genetics studies. Sasaki et al. show a metabolic role of white, which is found to regulate intestinal stem cell proliferation during ageing through folate metabolism.
Ludwig et al. map transcription and chromatin accessibility in single cells across the brainstem dorsal vagal complex, thereby identifying neuronal populations, including some that control feeding.
Cho et al. show regulation of mitophagy, and thereby energy expenditure, in adipocytes by the Hippo pathway kinases STK3 and STK4, independently of classical Hippo signalling. Genetic inactivation of Stk3 and Stk4 is shown to protect mice from the adverse metabolic effects of diet-induced obesity.
Glycogen accumulation is a hallmark of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Xie et al. uncover that under metabolic stress or hypoxia, these glycogen deposits are dispensable for tumour cell proliferation and survival, both in vivo and in vitro.
Kim et al. reveal that TFEB expression is protective in the setting of diet-induced obesity by activating the expression of GDF15 in adipose tissue macrophages in mice and humans.
Rare variants in the gene encoding PHGDH, the rate-limiting enzyme in de novo serine biosynthesis, are identified as responsible for serine deficiency associated with the macular degenerative disease MacTel.
Jin et al. show that astrocytic ALDH2 metabolizes ethanol in the brain, thereby attributing behavioural effects of alcohol to metabolites produced in the brain rather than the liver.
Elevated hepatic alanine catabolism is shown to promote hyperglycaemia and reduce skeletal muscle protein synthesis, thereby linking sarcopenia with hyperglycaemia in the context of type 2 diabetes.