Elsevier

Current Opinion in Cell Biology

Volume 33, April 2015, Pages vii-viii
Current Opinion in Cell Biology

Editorial overview: Cell regulation: Cell biology, fueling a renaissance in metabolism

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Signaling pathways

Although many signaling pathways have a profound impact on metabolism, this issue is focused only on some of the most ancient cell autonomous signaling nodes on the premise that evolutionary conservation reflects their fundamental importance. Hardie reviews the recent insights gained by the determination of the crystal structure of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) heterotrimer  a primordial energy sensor  illuminates its complex mechanisms of activation. Another important aspect covered is

Transcriptional pathways

Several reviews in this issue cover transcriptional pathways that respond to and govern metabolism. Fan and Evans describe how the PPAR and ERR nuclear receptors are essential to control mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and to execute the inducible effects of the transcriptional coregulators, PGC1α and NCoR1. Stein and Schoonjans summarize how the function of another nuclear receptor, LRH-1, is fine tuned by post-translational modifications, in particular by SUMOylation. Changes in LRH-1

Cellular organelles and metabolism

Historically many of the developments in metabolism have been spurred by studies of signaling and transcriptional pathways. However, recently major insights have been generated from the cell biology field through a better understanding of how the functions of cellular organelles intersect with metabolic pathways. Denzel and Antebi illustrate how the aminosugars UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-GalNAc, produced by the hexosamine pathway link the metabolic status, protein quality control in the ER, and

Metabolites

A review issue on metabolism would be nothing without a discussion of the regulatory roles and modes of storage and transport of metabolites Shi and Tu review the roles of the key hub metabolite, Acetyl-CoA, in metabolic homeostasis. Hashemi and Goodman discuss the many recent advances on the biogenesis regulation and turnover of lipid droplets, which is the major site for lipid storage in cells. Vanderperre et al. review our current knowledge of the structure and function of the mitochondrial

Prof. Jodi Nunnari received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Pharmacology. She is currently a professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Davis, where her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms and functions of mitochondrial behavior in cells.

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Prof. Jodi Nunnari received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Pharmacology. She is currently a professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Davis, where her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms and functions of mitochondrial behavior in cells.

Prof. Johan Auwerx received an M.D. and Ph.D. degree from the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium. He is currently professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he heads a research group that uses systems physiology and genetics to understand the link between transcription, mitochondria, metabolism, and aging.

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