Carbohydrate response element binding protein, ChREBP, a transcription factor coupling hepatic glucose utilization and lipid synthesis.
The ability of an organism to sense and store nutrients is vital to survival. The liver is the major organ responsible for converting excess dietary carbohydrate to lipid for storage. An elegant molecular pathway has evolved that allows increased glucose flux into hepatocytes to generate a signaling molecule, xylulose 5-phosphate, that triggers rapid changes in glycolytic enzyme activities and nuclear import of a transcription factor, ChREBP, which coordinates the transcriptional regulation of enzymes that channel the glycolytic end-products into lipogenesis. Further understanding of this metabolic cascade should provide insights on conditions such as fatty liver, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome.
Uyeda
Kosaku
K
Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA. kosaku.uyeda@utsouthwestern.edu
Repa
Joyce J
JJ
D000818:Animals; D051778:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D051778:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D008055:Lipids; C506001:Mlxipl protein, mouse; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D005947:Glucose