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2020 has been terrible for many reasons, but there have been some really cool metabolism papers this year. In no particular order, here are my top 10 (because I couldn't get it down to 5). A thread!
First, I'm a sucker for iron metabolism, and this paper from my fellow @TriIMDPhD student Ross Weber in @KivancBirsoy's lab clarified that iron is limiting for cells experiencing lysosomal dysfunction https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(20)30003-4
Next, @RJDLab gave us insight into how cells coordinate translation and metabolism in this paper, showing that ribosomal biogenesis is highly sensitive to GTP levels due to GTPase dependent recruitment of Pol I
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/139929
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/139929
Third, serine and redox are my loves, and the Rabinowitz lab showed that serine catabolism can be a significant source of reductive stress on cells due to basic biochemical principles of NADH feedback on mitochondrial enzymes https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(20)30114-5
Next, I can't not highlight major breakthroughs on the links between cell fate and metabolism. This gorgeous paper from the Pourquie lab suggests that glycolysis, by regulating intracellular pH, acts like a morphogen gradient to instruct morphogenesis https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2428-0
Dissecting heterogeneity in central carbon metabolic pathway use in vivo has remained a major hurdle for the field. In this paper, @allison_n_lau @mvh_lab used isotope tracing to stable macromolecules to overcome this challenge: https://elifesciences.org/articles/56782
This paper from Mei Kong's lab challenged the long held view in the field that glutamine supports tumor progression. Many more questions arise relevant to GLS inhibitor use and how cells balance anabolic demands with cell fate regulation! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17181-w
This paper from Adrienne Boire is a physician-scientist's dream, & shows that iron is limiting for metastatic colonization of the CSF. It opens up many questions relevant to metabolic adaptations and competition in this nutrient poor space! https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6501/276.long
I'm always excited by new tools, and this one from @VamsiMootha's lab is one of my favorites! Not only does LOXCAT allow us to manipulate systemic redox homeostasis, it also provides evidence that extracellular pyr/lac dysregulation drives pathology https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-019-0377-7
In a major breakthrough this year, two groups reported the identification of the long sought after mammalian mitochondrial NAD+ transporter. Enormous implications for understanding subcellular metabolism. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/43/eabe5310 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2741-7
And last, but certainly not least, adding credence to a growing body of literature that chromatin acts directly as metabolic regulator is the identification of the H3-H4 tetramer as a copper reductase -- with sufficient flux to alter cellular metabolism! https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6499/59
Those are my favorites! What are yours??
