German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
Genetics. 2017 Dec;207(4):1231-1253. doi: 10.1534/genetics.117.199885.
Carbohydrate metabolism is essential for cellular energy balance as well as for the biosynthesis of new cellular building blocks. As animal nutrient intake displays temporal fluctuations and each cell type within the animal possesses specific metabolic needs, elaborate regulatory systems are needed to coordinate carbohydrate metabolism in time and space. Carbohydrate metabolism is regulated locally through gene regulatory networks and signaling pathways, which receive inputs from nutrient sensors as well as other pathways, such as developmental signals. Superimposed on cell-intrinsic control, hormonal signaling mediates intertissue information to maintain organismal homeostasis. Misregulation of carbohydrate metabolism is causative for many human diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. Recent work in has uncovered new regulators of carbohydrate metabolism and introduced novel physiological roles for previously known pathways. Moreover, genetically tractable models to study carbohydrate metabolism-related human diseases have provided new insight into the mechanisms of pathogenesis. Due to the high degree of conservation of relevant regulatory pathways, as well as vast possibilities for the analysis of gene-nutrient interactions and tissue-specific gene function, is emerging as an important model system for research on carbohydrate metabolism.
碳水化合物代谢对于细胞能量平衡以及新的细胞构建块的生物合成至关重要。由于动物的营养摄入呈现出时间上的波动，而且动物体内的每种细胞类型都有特定的代谢需求，因此需要精细的调节系统来协调碳水化合物代谢的时间和空间。碳水化合物代谢通过基因调控网络和信号通路进行局部调节，这些网络和通路接收来自营养传感器以及其他途径（如发育信号）的输入。在细胞内固有控制的基础上，激素信号介导组织间信息以维持生物体的内稳态。碳水化合物代谢的失调是许多人类疾病（如糖尿病和癌症）的原因。最近在 的研究揭示了碳水化合物代谢的新调节剂，并为先前已知的途径引入了新的生理作用。此外，可用于研究与碳水化合物代谢相关的人类疾病的遗传上可操作的 模型为发病机制的研究提供了新的见解。由于相关调控途径具有高度的保守性，以及分析基因-营养相互作用和组织特异性基因功能的巨大可能性， 正在成为碳水化合物代谢研究的重要模型系统。
