Featured
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Convergent somatic mutations in metabolism genes in chronic liver disease
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of somatic mutations in liver samples from patients with chronic liver disease identifies driver mutations in metabolism-related genes such as FOXO1, and shows that these variants frequently exhibit convergent evolution.
- Stanley W. K. Ng
- , Foad J. Rouhani
- & Peter J. Campbell
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Article |
Oestrogen engages brain MC4R signalling to drive physical activity in female mice
A subset of oestrogen-sensitive neurons integrate melanocortin and oestrogen signalling to rebalance energy allocation in female mice leading to reduced sedentary behaviour and decreasing obesity in oestrogen-depleted female mice
- William C. Krause
- , Ruben Rodriguez
- & Holly A. Ingraham
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Article |
Structural basis of cytokine-mediated activation of ALK family receptors
Structural studies of the complex of anaplastic lymphoma kinase and leukocyte tyrosine kinase and their activating cytokines identify unique architectural features of the complex, and provide a novel mechanistic paradigm among receptor tyrosine kinases.
- Steven De Munck
- , Mathias Provost
- & Savvas N. Savvides
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Article |
Structure and assembly of the mammalian mitochondrial supercomplex CIII2CIV
SCAF1 is solely required for supercomplex CIII2CIV assembly and is not involved in the formation of the respirasome (supercomplex CICIII2CIV)
- Irene Vercellino
- & Leonid A. Sazanov
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News & Views |
Evidence that overnight fasting could extend healthy lifespan
A feeding schedule of prolonged overnight fasting periods extends healthy lifespan in fruit flies by promoting night-time autophagy, a process in which material in cells is degraded and recycled.
- Stephen L. Helfand
- & Rafael de Cabo
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Article |
Circadian autophagy drives iTRF-mediated longevity
Circadian-regulated autophagy contributes to the health benefits of intermittent time-restricted feeding in Drosophila.
- Matt Ulgherait
- , Adil M. Midoun
- & Mimi Shirasu-Hiza
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News |
Gene errors, electric cars — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key infographics from the week in science and research.
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News & Views |
Fructose in the diet expands the surface of the gut and promotes nutrient absorption
Feeding mice high-fructose corn syrup, a widely used sweetener in human diets, has been found to drive an increase in the surface area of the gut that is associated with enhanced absorption of dietary nutrients and weight gain.
- Patrícia M. Nunes
- & Dimitrios Anastasiou
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Article |
Dietary fructose improves intestinal cell survival and nutrient absorption
A high-fructose diet in mice improves the survival of intestinal epithelial cells, which leads to an increase in gut surface area, enhanced absorption of lipids and the promotion of tumour growth and obesity.
- Samuel R. Taylor
- , Shakti Ramsamooj
- & Marcus D. Goncalves
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News & Views |
A persistent look at how tumours evade therapy
Understanding how resistance to chemotherapy occurs could lead to better anticancer treatments. Persister cells in tumours can contribute to this resistance. A method to characterize these cells in detail sheds light on their origins.
- Karen Gomez
- & Raul Rabadan
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News & Views |
A brain signal that coordinates thought with metabolism
In a brain structure called the hippocampus, sharp wave-ripples — oscillatory hallmarks of an ‘offline’ mode of cognitive processing — have been found to predict dips in glucose concentrations in the body.
- Manfred Hallschmid
- & Jan Born
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Article |
A metabolic function of the hippocampal sharp wave-ripple
Sharp wave-ripples from the hippocampus are shown to modulate peripheral glucose homeostasis in rats, offering insights into the mechanism that links sleep disruption and blood glucose regulation in type 2 diabetes.
- David Tingley
- , Kathryn McClain
- & György Buzsáki
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News & Views |
How the amino acid leucine activates the key cell-growth regulator mTOR
Cells can tailor their growth to current conditions by sensing nutrients. The protein complex mTORC1 enables cell growth to be coordinated with the level of certain amino acids, and how it senses the amino acid leucine has now become clearer.
- Tibor Vellai
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Research Highlight |
Why a meat-free diet boosts health: protein levels might hit the spot
An analysis shows that the amino-acid profiles of vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous diets are similar.
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News & Views |
Deciphering metabolism, one microbe at a time
Small molecules produced and modified by gut microorganisms can influence human physiology. An atlas of metabolic outputs of diverse gut microbes offers new ways to decipher the microbial mechanisms behind their production.
- William F. Kindschuh
- & Tal Korem
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Article |
Caloric restriction disrupts the microbiota and colonization resistance
Severe caloric restriction in humans leads to reversible changes in the gut microbiota that promote weight loss and the expansion of an enteric pathogen in mice.
- Reiner Jumpertz von Schwartzenberg
- , Jordan E. Bisanz
- & Peter J. Turnbaugh
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Research Highlight |
How fit can you get? These blood proteins hold a clue
Scientists pinpoint almost 150 biomarkers linked to intrinsic cardiovascular fitness, and 100 linked to fitness gained from training.
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Research Highlight |
How a sugary, fatty diet threatens the gut’s immune defences
Fed on the regimen known as the Western diet, intestinal microbes unleash changes that make the gut more prone to infection.
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Article |
Mitochondrial TNAP controls thermogenesis by hydrolysis of phosphocreatine
Tissue nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) within mitochondria hydrolyses phosphocreatine to initiate a futile cycle of creatine dephosphorylation and phosphorylation in thermogenic fat cells.
- Yizhi Sun
- , Janane F. Rahbani
- & Bruce M. Spiegelman
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Article |
Response of the microbiome–gut–brain axis in Drosophila to amino acid deficit
In Drosophila, an amino acid deficit triggers the expression of the neuropeptide CNMamide in gut enterocytes, which promotes a compensatory appetite for essential over non-essential amino acids, and this process is modulated by the microbiome.
- Boram Kim
- , Makoto I. Kanai
- & Won-Jae Lee
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Research Highlight |
A century of US data documents obesity’s racially skewed rise
An analysis also finds that obesity is common at a much younger age among people born in the early 1980s than those born in the late 1950s.
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News & Views |
Life in a carbon dioxide world
Microorganisms living in hydrothermal vents that emit carbon dioxide gas provide a striking example of metabolic finesse. This pathway sheds light on microbial ecology in extreme environments and offers clues to early life on Earth.
- Martina Preiner
- & William F. Martin
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Research Highlight |
The easy test that predicts the size of your next few meals
One simple measurement provides a quantitative description of hunger.
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Article |
REV-ERB in GABAergic neurons controls diurnal hepatic insulin sensitivity
REV-ERB in GABAergic neurons orchestrates the rhythmic sensitivity of hepatic glucose production to insulin-mediated suppression that peaks at wakening, with implications in the extended dawn phenomenon.
- Guolian Ding
- , Xin Li
- & Zheng Sun
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Research Highlight |
An antibody joins forces with the pancreas to delay diabetes
An immune molecule props up cells that make insulin, thereby restoring production of the crucial hormone.
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News & Views |
Cancer aided by greasy traitors
Cancer can evade destruction by the immune system if aided by immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. These cells depend on a lipid-production pathway in the tumour environment, a vulnerability that might be used to target them.
- Caroline Perry
- & Ulf H. Beier
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Article
| Open AccessSulfur sequestration promotes multicellularity during nutrient limitation
Depriving unicellular Dictyostelium discoideum of nutrients generates reactive oxygen species that sequester cysteine within glutathione, which maintains this amoeba in a nonproliferating state that promotes aggregation into a multicellular organism.
- Beth Kelly
- , Gustavo E. Carrizo
- & Erika L. Pearce
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Research Highlight |
Impervious to cold? A gene helps people to ward off the chills
A mutation that is common in northern Europe is less so in Africa.
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News & Views |
New-found brake calibrates insulin action in β-cells
Insulin is produced by pancreatic β-cells. The identification of a regulator of insulin signalling in these cells cements the long-standing idea that this pathway has a key role in β-cell biology.
- Rohit N. Kulkarni
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Article |
Inceptor counteracts insulin signalling in β-cells to control glycaemia
The insulin inhibitory receptor (inceptor) is identified as a negative regulator of insulin and IGF1 signalling that could be targeted for β-cell regeneration in treatments for diabetes.
- Ansarullah
- , Chirag Jain
- & Heiko Lickert
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News & Views |
Reversal of immune-cell shutdown protects the ageing brain
Immune cells called macrophages have been found to shut down major metabolic pathways during ageing. Restoring metabolism in these cells is sufficient to alleviate age-associated cognitive decline in mice.
- Jonas J. Neher
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News & Views |
Anti-ageing effects of protein restriction unpacked
Two animal studies show that restricting the dietary intake of branched-chain amino acids can extend lifespan by modulating the mTOR signalling pathway. But more research is needed before this diet should be recommended in people.
- Cristal M. Hill
- & Matt Kaeberlein
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Outlook |
Sustainable nutrition
The world’s population is estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050. Providing everyone with a nutritious diet and protecting the planet requires a global response.
- Catherine Armitage
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Outlook |
Could a better diet improve mental health?
Brain function and food are thought to be connected through the community of microorganisms that live in the gut.
- Clare Watson
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Article |
SLC25A51 is a mammalian mitochondrial NAD+ transporter
SLC25A51 is identified as a transporter of intact NAD+ into mammalian mitochondria and is required to maintain the mitochondrial NAD+ pool and respiratory function.
- Timothy S. Luongo
- , Jared M. Eller
- & Joseph A. Baur
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News & Views |
Light-activated neurons deep in the brain control body heat
A light-sensitive receptor protein expressed in neurons deep in the mouse brain has been shown to be stimulated by violet light, and to activate a pathway that reduces heat production in brown fat.
- Gary J. Schwartz
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Article |
Violet-light suppression of thermogenesis by opsin 5 hypothalamic neurons
Mice possess neurons in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus that are sensitive to violet light; these deep brain neurons sense light via OPN5 and regulate adaptive thermogenesis in brown fat.
- Kevin X. Zhang
- , Shane D’Souza
- & Richard A. Lang
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News & Views |
Cancer cells stock up in lymph vessels to survive
A cellular condition called oxidative stress can kill cancer cells. The finding that skin cancer cells evade such destruction using lipids acquired while passing through lymphatic vessels reveals a mechanism that boosts cancer spread.
- Barbara M. Grüner
- & Sarah-Maria Fendt
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News & Views |
Molecules in the blood of older people promote cancer spread
A molecule produced by the metabolism of proteins and fats has been found to accumulate in the blood of older people, and to endow cancer cells with the ability to spread from one site in the body to others.
- Hai Wang
- & Xiang H.-F. Zhang
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Article |
Age-induced accumulation of methylmalonic acid promotes tumour progression
Ageing in humans is associated with an increase in circulating methylmalonic acid, which induces expression of SOX4 and promotes tumour progression.
- Ana P. Gomes
- , Didem Ilter
- & John Blenis
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Na+ controls hypoxic signalling by the mitochondrial respiratory chain
Na+ controls the function of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system and hypoxic redox signalling through an unexpected interaction with phospholipids.
- Pablo Hernansanz-Agustín
- , Carmen Choya-Foces
- & Antonio Martínez-Ruiz
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Editorial |
Mitochondrial genome editing: another win for curiosity-driven research
A promising biomedical tool began life as part of efforts to answer a different question.
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News & Views |
How lactate links cannabis to social behaviour
An active component of cannabis has been shown to disrupt the delicate metabolic balance between neurons and non-neuronal cells called astrocytes, altering social behaviour in mice.
- Pierre J. Magistretti
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News |
Scientists make precise gene edits to mitochondrial DNA for first time
Weird enzyme enables researchers to study — and potentially treat — deadly diseases.
- Heidi Ledford
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Matters Arising |
In vivo quantification of mitochondrial membrane potential
- Nathaniel M. Alpert
- , Matthieu Pelletier-Galarneau
- & Georges El Fakhri
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Outlook |
EraCal Therapeutics: a new drug candidate for obesity
The start-up that developed the compound is a finalist for The Spinoff Prize.
- Elie Dolgin
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News & Views |
Flipping the switch on the body’s thermoregulatory system
A population of excitatory neurons has been found to have a key role in controlling body temperature in rodents. The discovery adds to a body of work that is raising questions about long-standing models of thermoregulation.
- Clifford B. Saper
- & Natalia L. S. Machado
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Neurons that regulate mouse torpor
A specific neuronal population in the medial and lateral preoptic area of the hypothalamus regulates entry into torpor in mice.
- Sinisa Hrvatin
- , Senmiao Sun
- & Michael E. Greenberg
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A discrete neuronal circuit induces a hibernation-like state in rodents
In rodents, activation of a population of neurons characterized by the expression of the neuropeptide QRFP induces a hibernation-like state of long-lasting hypothermia and hypometabolism.
- Tohru M. Takahashi
- , Genshiro A. Sunagawa
- & Takeshi Sakurai