Publications by authors named "Marc K Hellerstein"

Dysfunctional adipose tissue is believed to promote the development of hepatic steatosis and systemic insulin resistance, but many of the mechanisms involved are still unclear. Lipin 1 catalyzes the conversion of phosphatidic acid to diacylglycerol, the penultimate step of triglyceride synthesis, which is essential for lipid storage. Herein we found that adipose tissue LPIN1 expression is decreased in people with obesity compared with lean subjects, and low LPIN1 expression correlated with multi-tissue insulin resistance and increased rates of hepatic de novo lipogenesis.

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The response to acute myotoxic injury requires stimulation of local repair mechanisms in the damaged tissue. However, satellite cells in muscle distant from acute injury have been reported to enter a functional state between quiescence and active proliferation. Here, we asked whether protein flux rates are altered in muscle distant from acute local myotoxic injury and how they compare to changes in gene expression from the same tissue.

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Changes in protein turnover play an important role in dynamic physiological processes, including skeletal muscle regeneration, which occurs as an essential part of tissue repair after injury. The inability of muscle tissue to recapitulate this regenerative process can lead to the manifestation of clinical symptoms in various musculoskeletal diseases, including muscular dystrophies and pathological atrophy. Here, we employed a workflow that couples deuterated water (HO) administration with mass spectrometry (MS) to systematically measure in-vivo protein turnover rates across the muscle proteome in 8-week-old male C57BL6/J mice.

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There is considerable heterogeneity in the cardiometabolic abnormalities associated with obesity. We evaluated multi-organ system metabolic function in 20 adults with metabolically healthy obesity (MHO; normal fasting glucose and triglycerides, oral glucose tolerance, intrahepatic triglyceride content, and whole-body insulin sensitivity), 20 adults with metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO; prediabetes, hepatic steatosis, and whole-body insulin resistance), and 15 adults who were metabolically healthy lean. Compared with MUO, people with MHO had (1) altered skeletal muscle biology (decreased ceramide content and increased expression of genes involved in BCAA catabolism and mitochondrial structure/function); (2) altered adipose tissue biology (decreased expression of genes involved in inflammation and extracellular matrix remodeling and increased expression of genes involved in lipogenesis); (3) lower 24-h plasma glucose, insulin, non-esterified fatty acids, and triglycerides; (4) higher plasma adiponectin and lower plasma PAI-1 concentrations; and (5) decreased oxidative stress.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that abdominal and gluteal adipocyte turnover, lipid dynamics, and fibrogenesis are dysregulated among insulin-resistant (IR) compared with insulin-sensitive (IS) adolescents with obesity.

Methods: Seven IS and seven IR adolescents with obesity participated in a 3-h oral glucose tolerance test and a multi-section magnetic resonance imaging scan of the abdominal region to examine body fat distribution patterns and liver fat content. An 8-week 70% deuterated water ( H O) labeling protocol examined adipocyte turnover, lipid dynamics, and fibrogenesis in vivo from biopsied abdominal and gluteal fat.

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Mass isotopomer distribution analysis (MIDA) is an analytical technique that measures the synthesis rate of biological polymers using combinatorial probabilities and stable isotope labeling. Over the past few decades, this method has been developed and applied to a wide range of uses that have increased our understanding of metabolism and the etiology and monitoring of disease. There is currently no publicly available piece of software for performing MIDA calculations in a targeted manner without its functionality being limited to a specific use case.

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Previous studies have demonstrated both energy restriction (ER) and higher protein (HP), lower carbohydrate (LC) diets downregulate hepatic de novo lipogenesis. Little is known about the independent and combined impact of ER and HP/LC diets on tissue-specific lipid kinetics in leptin receptor-deficient, obese rodents. This study investigated the effects of ER and dietary macronutrient content on body composition; hepatic, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and visceral AT (VAT) lipid metabolic flux ( H O-labeling); and blood and liver measures of cardiometabolic health in six-week-old female obese Zucker rats (Lepr ).

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Article Synopsis
  • - Seladelpar, a selective PPARδ agonist, shows promise in improving liver injury markers and reducing fibrosis in a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), both when used alone and in combination with other agents like liraglutide and selonsertib.
  • - The study demonstrated significant plasma liver function improvements and robust declines in liver steatosis and fibrosis through various treatments, highlighting the potential of combining seladelpar with different therapeutics to enhance treatment effectiveness.
  • - Gene expression analysis revealed that seladelpar promotes lipid oxidation and metabolic changes, suggesting it may work well alongside different mechanisms of action for tackling the challenges posed by NASH and liver fibrosis.
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Background: Low skeletal muscle mass (myopenia) is common in cancer populations and is associated with functional decline and mortality, but prior oncology studies did not assess total body skeletal muscle mass. Instead, they measured surrogates such as cross-sectional area (CSA) of skeletal muscle at L3 from computed tomography (CT) or appendicular lean mass (ALM) from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). D3-creatine (D3Cr) dilution is a non-invasive method to assess total body skeletal muscle mass, which has been examined in a variety of populations but not in cancer.

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Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) clones contain subpopulations differing in time since the last cell division ("age"): recently born, proliferative (PF; CXCR4CD5), intermediate (IF; CXCR4CD5), and resting (RF; CXCR4CD5) fractions. Herein, we used deuterium (H) incorporation into newly synthesized DNA in patients to refine the kinetics of CLL subpopulations by characterizing two additional CXCR4/CD5 fractions, i.e.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines how HIV persists in people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) by analyzing the behavior of different CD4+ T cell subsets in 37 male participants, focusing on HIV DNA and cell turnover rates.
  • - It was found that HIV levels decrease in more differentiated T cell subsets but not in less-differentiated ones, and the turnover rate of these memory cells is significantly faster than the rate at which HIV is cleared.
  • - A mathematical model suggests that HIV DNA is generated through cellular proliferation and differentiation, indicating that targeting these processes could potentially reduce HIV levels significantly over time.
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  • - White adipose tissue is crucial for energy balance in the body, influenced by the synthesis and breakdown of fat cells and triacylglycerols.
  • - The way subcutaneous fat expands (either by increasing cell size or number) affects metabolic health and is linked to obesity and diseases.
  • - New methods using deuterium-labeled water can accurately measure the formation and death of fat cells in living humans, providing better insights compared to traditional lab methods.
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Background: Despite evidence that low muscle increases the risk of chemotoxicity, most chemotherapies are dosed on body surface area without considering body composition. Among 178 patients with colon cancer, we assessed muscle and adipose tissue with multiple techniques and examined their associations with relative dose intensity (RDI) and adverse events.

Methods: We estimated (i) cross-sectional skeletal muscle area (SMA) and total adipose tissue (TAT) area at L3 from computed tomography (CT); (ii) appendicular lean mass (ALM) and total body fat (TBF) mass from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); and (iii) total body skeletal muscle mass using D3-creatine (D3Cr) dilution.

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Background: Given limited experience in applying the creatine-(methyl-D) (DCr) dilution method to measure skeletal muscle mass (SMM) in young children, the feasibility of deployment in a fielding setting and performance of the method was assessed in a cohort of 4-year-old children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Methods: Following DCr oral dose (10 mg) administration, single fasting urine samples were collected at 2-4 days (n = 100). Twenty-four-hour post-dose collections and serial spot urine samples on days 2, 3 and 4 were obtained in a subset of participants (n = 10).

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In mice, dietary cuprizone causes brain demyelination with subsequent spontaneous remyelination upon return to normal chow. Heavy water (HO) labeling with mass spectrometric analysis can be used to measure brain de novo synthesis of several myelin components including cholesterol, phospholipids, galactocereboside (GalC) and myelin-associated proteins. 24-hydroxycholesterol (24-OHC), the major metabolite of brain cholesterol, is detected in blood and is believed to be specifically derived from CNS cholesterol metabolism.

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Dysfunctional adipose tissue is believed to promote the development of hepatic steatosis and systemic insulin resistance, but many of the mechanisms involved are still unclear. Lipin 1 catalyzes the conversion of phosphatidic acid to diacylglycerol (DAG), the penultimate step of triglyceride synthesis, which is essential for lipid storage. Herein we found that adipose tissue expression is decreased in people with obesity compared to lean subjects and low expression correlated with multi-tissue insulin resistance and increased rates of hepatic de novo lipogenesis.

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Background: In contrast to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), the D3-creatine (D3Cr) dilution method provides a direct measure of skeletal muscle mass and in a cohort of older men has been strongly associated with health-related outcomes. However, sensitivity to detect changes in D3Cr-derived muscle mass due to an intervention is limited.

Methods: Twenty-one older adults (≥70 years) with low-to-moderate physical function were randomized to a 15-week high-intensity strength training (ST) or a health education (HE) group.

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De novo lipogenesis (DNL) converts carbon substrates to lipids. Increased hepatic DNL could contribute to pathogenic liver triglyceride accumulation in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and therefore may be a potential target for pharmacological intervention. Here, we measured hepatic DNL using heavy water in 123 patients with NASH with fibrosis or cirrhosis, calculated the turnover of hepatic triglycerides to allow repeat labeling studies, and determined the associations of hepatic DNL with metabolic, fibrotic, and imaging markers.

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Context: Effects of testosterone on integrated muscle protein metabolism and muscle mass during energy deficit are undetermined.

Objective: The objective was to determine the effects of testosterone on mixed-muscle protein synthesis (MPS), proteome-wide fractional synthesis rates (FSR), and skeletal muscle mass during energy deficit.

Design: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

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Age is a risk factor for numerous diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, and diabetes. Loss of protein homeostasis is a central hallmark of aging. Activation of the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response (UPR ) includes changes in protein translation and membrane lipid synthesis.

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The unfolded protein response in the endoplasmic reticulum (UPR) is involved in a number of metabolic diseases. Here, we characterize UPR-induced metabolic changes in mouse livers in vivo through metabolic labeling and mass spectrometric analysis of lipid and proteome-wide fluxes. We induced UPR by tunicamycin administration and measured synthesis rates of proteins, fatty acids and cholesterol, as well as RNA-seq.

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BACKGROUNDHepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) is elevated in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Improvements in hepatic fat by dietary sugar reduction may be mediated by reduced DNL, but data are limited, especially in children. We examined the effects of 8 weeks of dietary sugar restriction on hepatic DNL in adolescents with NAFLD and correlations between DNL and other metabolic outcomes.

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Understanding how immunological memory lasts a lifetime requires quantifying changes in the number of memory cells as well as how their division and death rates change over time. We address these questions by using a statistically powerful mixed-effects differential equations framework to analyze data from two human studies that follow CD8 T cell responses to the yellow fever vaccine (YFV-17D). Models were first fit to the frequency of YFV-specific memory CD8 T cells and deuterium enrichment in those cells 42 days to 1 year post-vaccination.

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Future HIV-1 curative therapies require a thorough understanding of the distribution of genetically-intact HIV-1 within T-cell subsets during antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the cellular mechanisms that maintain this reservoir. Therefore, we sequenced near-full-length HIV-1 genomes and identified genetically-intact and genetically-defective genomes from resting naive, stem-cell memory, central memory, transitional memory, effector memory, and terminally-differentiated CD4 T-cells with known cellular half-lives from 11 participants on ART. We find that a higher infection frequency with any HIV-1 genome was significantly associated with a shorter cellular half-life, such as transitional and effector memory cells.

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