Harvard Molecular Metabolism

To Live Longer, and Better Maria Perez-Matos’s research suggests that aging isn’t determined solely by genes or environment. Subtle molecular differences can influence how long and how well an organism lives. Understanding thes...

“How do we not just live longer, but live better?”

A great profile from January of Maria Perez-Matos, PhD ’25, from the Mair Lab (@willmair.bsky.social), on uncovering molecular clues to healthy aging and longevity—down to tiny worms and oleic acid.

Read more: hsph.me/llb13026

How pollutants interact inside the body to impact health | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Peng Gao studies the “exposome”—the measure of an individual’s total environmental exposures over the course of their life and how those exposures impact biology and health.

Mapping the “exposome” to protect health.

@penggao.bsky.social, uses high-resolution mass spectrometry and multi-omics to reveal how pollutant mixtures shape asthma, cancer, Alzheimer’s risk, and more.

Read about the work. in the Gao Lab: hsph.me/hpiitbtih31026

#Exposomics #EnvHealth

Growth factor-independent mTORC1 signaling promotes primary cilia length via suppression of autophagy Molecular physiology; Cell biology

Clear evidence from Josh Shin in our lab that mTORC1 signaling and autophagy reciprocally influence the length of primary cilia. Question remains how do changes in length affect cilia signaling and function in the largely quiescent cells comprising our brains and bodies. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Triggering cell death in metastatic melanoma may pave the way for new cancer treatments | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health A Harvard Chan School study offers new ways to understand cancer and its vulnerabilities, and suggests that certain protein inhibitors could potentially be effective treatments for the disease.

Please read more about this publication in this article in the Harvard Newsletter: Triggering cell death in metastatic melanoma may pave the way for new cancer treatments

Lymph node environment drives FSP1 targetability in metastasizing melanoma - Nature Targeting FSP1 in lymph nodes has considerable potential for blocking melanoma progression.

Melanoma cells that spread to lymph nodes depend on FSP1 to survive, revealing a new metabolic vulnerability. New study in Nature by @mariopalma.bsky.social @ubellackerlab.bsky.social and colleagues shows that blocking FSP1 triggers ferroptosis and suppresses tumor growth in lymph node metastases.

The diabetes gene Tcf7l2 organizes gene expression in the liver and regulates amino acid metabolism Though Tcf7l2 harbors the strongest genetic association with diabetes identified thus far, how it promotes metabolic disease remains unclear. Our aim …

New Molecular Metabolism study from the Biddinger Lab finds diabetes gene TCF7L2 is crucial for hepatic zonation and glutamine metabolism. Liver-specific Tcf7l2 knockout mice exhibit metabolic reprogramming, and decreased glutamine in humans with the rs7903146 variant. #BiddingerLab
hsph.me/Tcf7l2

Prospects for ferroptosis therapies in cancer Nature Cancer - Ubellacker and Dixon summarize the latest discoveries on ferroptosis in cancer, covering the molecular and cellular pathways underlying sensitivity and resistance to this type of...

Ferroptosis-targeting therapies in cancer have yet to make it to the clinic. New review published today in Nature Cancer by @ubellackerlab.bsky.social and Scott Dixon of Stanford share hurdles and ideas for future strategies to bring these therapies closer to the clinic. Check it out
rdcu.be/eBbqV

Jessalyn Ubellacker @ubellackerlab.bsky.social was honored with a FASEB Journal Early Career Researcher Award at the first FASEB Ferroptosis, Oxidative Stress, and Lipid Metabolism meeting, co-organized by James Olzmann @olzmannlab.bsky.social and Scott Dixon, to support early career researchers.

🚨The final programme for #FusionAging25 is now live
⬇️Check out our website to view the short talks that will be joining our invited speaker line-up - it is shaping up to be a fantastic 4 days!

🗓️Final Poster & Reg Deadline: 07 Aug 2025
🔗 bit.ly/3FR0Z3E
#FusionAgingResearch

I Was Just About To When My Grant Was Cut. We ask researchers to send us their stories of what they were working on when their research grant was cut. Today, we share the stories of Tashara and Brendan.

Just two of thousands of such stories. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Using a phospho-mutant TSC2-5A mouse, the work reveals tissue-specific roles for this pathway in organ growth, including reduced brain and muscle size. Congratulations to all contributing researchers on this important publication! #Metabolism #ManningLab

AKT-mediated phosphorylation of TSC2 controls stimulus- and tissue-specific mTORC1 signaling and organ growth Cormerais et al. describe the TSC2-5A mouse model lacking the five phosphorylation sites on TSC2 through which AKT activates mTORC1. The TSC2-5A mice are developmentally normal but show reduced body- ...

New study in @cp-devcell.bsky.social from the @bdmanning.bsky.social Lab.
‪ @yannphd.bsky.social and team define the physiological role of AKT-mediated phosphorylation of TSC2 in regulating mTORC1 signaling. www.cell.com/developmenta...

Brendan Manning: Unraveling the cell’s inner workings For Brendan Manning, PhD, today’s advances in basic science are the stepping stones to the next breakthrough in treating tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Manning has spent the last 25 years researchi...

For 25 years, Dr. Manning & his lab have advanced TSC research, uncovering how the mTOR pathway shapes cell growth—and unlocking insights across cancer, diabetes & more. Research that until recently was supported by taxpayers through the NIH. #TSC #science #ResearchMatters

Newly discovered mechanism of mitochondrial dysfunction in obesity may drive insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health A newly discovered mechanism that leads to liver dysfunction may be a key factor in type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders in individuals with obesity, according to a new study led by Harvard C...

From @hsph.harvard.edu Hotamışlıgil Lab, @renata-goncalves.bsky.social identifies an important mechanism that leads to liver dysfunction in obesity—defective coenzyme Q metabolism. This finding paves the way for more targeted diabetes & metabolic disease treatments. Read more:
hsph.me/mitoT2D

🗓️ Join us Friday, Apr 25 for a #seminar with Brendan Manning — Professor and Chair of Molecular Metabolism at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
He'll explore the TSC-mTOR pathway in growth and metabolism. Don’t miss it! @bdmanning.bsky.social @met-hsph.bsky.social @mario-pende.bsky.social

A reminder that for next month’s BCDI in place of our regular discussion, we encourage you to attend the Cutter Distinguished Lecture @met-hsph.bsky.social by the great Scott Dixon!

See you there: Monday May 12, 2025, Kresge Building at HSPH, G1 auditorium, 12:00-1:00pm

This study has advanced the frontier of in vivo flux quantification, offering important tools and resources for metabolic research. Incredible work by all researchers involved! #Metabolism #ObesityResearch

An organism-level quantitative flux model of energy metabolism in mice Mammalian tissues feed on nutrients in the blood circulation. At the organism level, mammalian energy metabolism is comprised of the oxidation, storag…

Exciting findings from Bo Yuan, PhD of the @tonyhui.bsky.social Lab: a whole-body quantitative flux model of energy metabolism was built, revealing surprising features of energy metabolism in both normal physiology and obesity. Great collaboration with the Hotamışlıgil Lab!

Great work, led by Dr. Hotamisligil, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Baazim and the research team!

Publication in @embomolmed.org identifies FABP4 as a key host factor regulating SARS-CoV-2 replication, inflammation and lung damage. Providing a promising treatment candidate. #COVID19Research #Metabolism #HotamisligilLab
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Great work by @mariesabatier.bsky.social,Jessalyn Ubellacker, Ani Solanki, Sangeetha Thangaswamy, Pin-ji Lei, Hengbo Zhou, Meghan O’Melia, Lutz Menzel, and Samir Mitri!

Lymphatic collection and cell isolation from mouse models for multiomic profiling - Nature Protocols An approach to collect lymph drained from the primary tumor in mice enables the downstream characterization of the samples using metabolomics, lipidomics and flow cytometry.

@ubellackerlab.bsky.social in Nature Protocols, details new protocol for collecting lymph and tumor-draining lymph from mouse models of cancer metastasis. This method enables multiomic profiling of lymph-derived cancer cells, revealing the impact of the lymphatic environment on cancer progression.