Mediating Metabolism

摘要

Heart disease is a common complication of obesity-associated metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this link are not fully understood. Much research has focused on the notion that specific metabolic aberrations such as lipid accumulation compromise the heart's structure and function. A new study suggests that the situation is more complex: Rather than simply being an organ targeted by metabolic dysfunction, the heart itself may regulate whole-body metabolism. Grueter et at. observed improved metabolic features in transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of MED13, a regulatory subunit of Mediator (a protein complex bridging transcription factors and RNA polymerase).