K. E. Wellen

The mitochondrial Ca2+ channel MCU is critical for tumor growth by supporting cell cycle progression and proliferation

This study shows that the mitochondrial Ca2+ channel MCU supports tumor growth by enabling cell cycle progression and proliferation through mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, despite unchanged mitochondrial function.

Dynamic protein deacetylation is a limited carbon source for acetyl-CoA-dependent metabolism

This study shows that dynamic protein deacetylation in Acly-/- MEFs contributes carbons to acetyl-CoA but only transiently supplies about 9% of cellular acetyl-CoA.

The carnitine shuttle links mitochondrial metabolism to histone acetylation and lipogenesis

This study identifies the carnitine shuttle and CrAT as a pathway for mitochondrial-to-cytosolic acetyl-CoA transfer, independent of ACLY, in cancer cells.

Glutamine deprivation triggers NAGK-dependent hexosamine salvage

This study shows that glutamine deprivation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells increases free GlcNAc and activates NAGK-dependent hexosamine salvage to support tumor growth.

Quantitative sub-cellular acyl-CoA analysis reveals distinct nuclear regulation

The paper introduces SILEC-SF, a method for sub-cellular metabolomic analysis, and finds distinct nuclear acyl-CoA profiles with notable propionyl-CoA enrichment and a new metabolic pathway for histone propionylation.

Increased mTOR activity and metabolic efficiency in mouse and human cells containing the African-centric tumor-predisposing p53 variant Pro47Ser

This study shows that the p53 variant Pro47Ser increases mTOR activity and metabolic efficiency in mouse and human cells through altered redox regulation of Rheb.

Subcellular metabolic pathway kinetics are revealed by correcting for artifactual post harvest metabolism

The paper corrects for artifactual post-harvest metabolism in subcellular isotope tracing to reveal compartment-specific metabolic kinetics.