A team of researchers lead by DMPI faculty members Phillip White and Christopher Newgard have published findings in the journal Cell Reports that provide new mechanistic insight into the longstanding observation of low glycine levels in persons with cardiometabolic disease. Their study leveraged a combination of static metabolomics and stable isotope tracing, as well as pharmacologic, and nutritional interventions to map the fate of glycine in obese rats. This work revealed that glycine is employed as a carbon donor for the pyruvate-alanine cycle in a branched-chain amino acid dependent manner. The manuscript also characterizes the effects of glycine supplementation on systemic glucose, lipid, and amino acid homeostasis in obese insulin resistant rats.
This highly collaborative project involved key contributions from a number of DMPI faculty and trainees including Drs. Svati Shah, Bill Kraus, Robert McGarrah, James Bain, Robert Stevens, Deb Muoio, Tim Koves, and Scott Crown.