Transcriptional regulation of energy metabolism in the liver

Abstract

Living organisms maintain energy homeostasis by constantly adjusting internal metabolic activities in response to nutritional states. Energy metabolism is regulated by the quality and quantity of the enzymes that catalyze metabolic reactions. Recruitment and regulation of enzymes responsible for transcriptional control, among others, play an important role in this process. Located downstream from intracellular signaling cascades, transcription factors receive information signals from multiple sources. Their primary function is to integrate and interpret this information in terms of transcriptional output. It was recently suggested that signal content is converted via post-transcriptional modifications of the transcription factors. Many studies have shown that multiple signaling pathways converge on single transcription factors. This review discusses the post-translational modifications of transcription factors involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism, as well as the signaling networks in which they play a role.

Keywords::

• Transcription
• gluconeogenesis
• metabolism
• modification
• insulin
• HNF-4

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Fukamizu laboratory members for their helpful discussion and encouragement.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by a grant-in-aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas and a grant-in-aid for Young Scientists (B) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.