Cell Metabolism
Editorial Cell Metabolism Clinical and Translational Reports For the past decade, our aim at Cell Metabolism has been to publish novel, impactful metabolic work spanning basic biomedical and clinical research. While there has traditionally been an element of dichotomy in how the science of basic and clinical research was viewed, the borders between the two have faded, opening the ‘‘translational’’ arena. Cell Metabolism has been publishing translational and clinical studies for years, but given the frequency with which we are asked ‘‘Is Cell Metabolism interested in clinical studies?’’, this realization is not widespread. In the guise of Molie`re’s character who realized he was speaking prose without knowing it, we have created a new research format, Clinical and Translational Report (CTR), specifically designed for clinical and translational research. Examples of what we would consider to be translational metabolic studies that we have published in the past couple of years include: Research Articles such as the first clinical trial of an FGF21 analog in obese diabetic humans (Gaich et al., 2013), glycolysis blockade as an alternative to anti-VEGF therapy in pathological angiogenesis (Schoors et al., 2014), correlating measures of health to diet macronutrient composition in mice and humans (Levine et al., 2014; Solon-Biet et al., 2014), identification and functional characterization of a novel HDL regulator through GWAS analysis and generation of potent lipoxin mimetics (Demetz et al., 2014), use of Mirabegron, an FDA-approved b3-adrenergic receptor agonist, to stimulate human BAT thermogenesis (Cypess et al., 2015), an anti-obesity PI3K pharmacological inhibition study looking at timing and dosage in mice and monkeys (Ortega-Molina et al., 2015); Short Articles such as sodium homeostasis in human space flight simulations (Rakova et al., 2013), a study of cosanguinous patients with neonatal diabetes to identify recessive mutations (Flanagan et al., 2014), improved vascular function and decreased arterial wall stiffening in obese monkeys supplemented with resveratrol (Mattison et al., 2014); and Resource Articles such as a systems genetics approach to link obesity traits and gut microbiota in over 100 inbred mice strains (Parks et al., 2013) and a unique cross-species approach comparing differentially methylated regions in mice, and also in human obesity reversed by gastric bypass, to a diabetes GWAS (Multhaup et al., 2015). This is by no means a comprehensive list but is meant to give the reader an idea of the breadth of translational and clinical studies, which will now be under their unique umbrella category at Cell Metabolism. In this issue, we present four Clinical and Translational Reports: a key role for the nutritionally regulated enzyme carnitine acetyltransferase in offsetting metabolic inertia during exercise in mice and humans (Seiler et al., 2015); the repurposing of an FDA-approved drug to boost pancreatic b cell proliferation (Kondegowda et al., 2015); a fasting-mimicking diet protocol, which retains the health benefits of prolonged fasting, which decreased multiple aging risk factors in mice and humans (Brandhorst et al., 2015); and a report showing that intestinal immunity changes associated with microbiota dysbiosis precede the onset of diabetes (Garidou et al., 2015). We recognize that the interpretation of the terms ‘‘translational’’ and ‘‘clinical’’ can be extensively debated. In general terms, we are looking for solid ‘‘bench to bedside’’ research studies in the metabolic arena, backed up by mechanism at key strategic points on the translational continuum, which spans pre-clinical to applied clinical work. In terms of format, for ease of reading, we see the ideal length to be 5 figures, a general introduction placing the work in context, and a combined results and discussion section. We will continue to place emphasis on a detailed experimental procedures section, which we believe is critical to understand how the experiments were done and interpret the figures. There will be the same limit on supplemental figures as for the other article categories, in this case 5. However, we wanted to take this opportunity to state that we do not see supplemental figures as a necessary requirement for articles; more is not always better. Our interest in clinical and translational studies is not meant to be at the expense of foundational basic research, which is the bedrock of scientific progress. Cell Metabolism will continue to publish strong papers addressing the molecular mechanisms underlying physiology and homeostasis. Furthermore, we believe that investigators conducting traditionally more ‘‘basic’’ and those conducting more ‘‘clinical’’ research can learn from each other. In closing, we believe that the time is right to bring more of our focus on interdisciplinary research, which underlies translational science. Besides the inter-connections among classic biological disciplines and collaborations between academia and the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, we are increasingly seeing more innovation at the intersections with the physical sciences, engineering, and technology. It is indeed an exciting time to think of translational research in the broadest terms, and we look forward to seeing your papers! REFERENCES Brandhorst, S., Choi, I.Y., Wei, M., Cheng, C.W., Sedrakyan, S., Navarrete, G., Dubeau, L., Yap, L.P., Park, R., Vinciguerra, M., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 86–99. Cypess, A.M., Weiner, L.S., Roberts-Toler, C., Franquet Elı´a, E., Kessler, S.H., Kahn, P.A., English, J., Chatman, K., Trauger, S.A., Doria, A., and Kolodny, G.M. (2015). Cell Metab. 21, 33–38.
2 Cell Metabolism 22, July 7, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc.
Cell Metabolism
Editorial Demetz, E., Schroll, A., Auer, K., Heim, C., Patsch, J.R., Eller, P., Theurl, M., Theurl, I., Theurl, M., Seifert, M., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 20, 787–798. Flanagan, S.E., De Franco, E., Lango Allen, H., Zerah, M., Abdul-Rasoul, M.M., Edge, J.A., Stewart, H., Alamiri, E., Hussain, K., Wallis, S., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 146–154. Gaich, G., Chien, J.Y., Fu, H., Glass, L.C., Deeg, M.A., Holland, W.L., Kharitonenkov, A., Bumol, T., Schilske, H.K., and Moller, D.E. (2013). Cell Metab. 18, 333–340. Garidou, L., Pomie´, C., Klopp, P., Waget, A., Charpentier, J., Aloulou, M., Giry, A., Serino, M., Stenman, L., Lahtinen, S., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 100–112. Kondegowda, N.G., Fenutria, R., Pollack, I.R., Orthofer, M., Garcia-Ocan˜a, A., Penninger, J.M., and Vasavada, R.C. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 77–85. Levine, M.E., Suarez, J.A., Brandhorst, S., Balasubramanian, P., Cheng, C.-W., Madia, F., Fontana, L., Mirisola, M.G., Guevara-Aguirre, J., Wan, J., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 407–417. Mattison, J.A., Wang, M., Bernier, M., Zhang, J., Park, S.-S., Maudsley, S., An, S.S., Santhanam, L., Martin, B., Faulkner, S., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 20, 183–190. Multhaup, M.L., Seldin, M.M., Jaffe, A.E., Lei, X., Kirchner, H., Mondal, P., Li, Y., Rodriguez, V., Drong, A., Hussain, M., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 21, 138–149. Ortega-Molina, A., Lopez-Guadamillas, E., Mattison, J.A., Mitchell, S.J., Mun˜oz-Martin, M., Iglesias, G., Gutierrez, V.M., Vaughan, K.L., Szarowicz, M.D., Gonza´lez-Garcı´a, I., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 21, 558–570. Parks, B.W., Nam, E., Org, E., Kostem, E., Norheim, F., Hui, S.T., Pan, C., Civelek, M., Rau, C.D., Bennett, B.J., et al. (2013). Cell Metab. 17, 141–152. Rakova, N., Ju¨ttner, K., Dahlmann, A., Schro¨der, A., Linz, P., Kopp, C., Rauh, M., Goller, U., Beck, L., Agureev, A., et al. (2013). Cell Metab. 17, 125–131. Schoors, S., De Bock, K., Cantelmo, A.R., Georgiadou, M., Ghesquie`re, B., Cauwenberghs, S., Kuchnio, A., Wong, B.W., Quaegebeur, A., Goveia, J., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 37–48. Seiler, S.E., Koves, T.R., Gooding, J.R., Wong, K.E., Stevens, R.D., Ilkayeva, O.R., Wittmann, A.H., DeBalsi, K.L., Davies, M.N., Lindeboom, L., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 65–76. Solon-Biet, S.M., McMahon, A.C., Ballard, J.W.O., Ruohonen, K., Wu, L.E., Cogger, V.C., Warren, A., Huang, X., Pichaud, N., Melvin, R.G., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 418–430.
Nikla Emambokus Editor, Cell Metabolism
Anne Granger
Scientific Editor, Cell Metabolism http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2015.06.019
Cell Metabolism 22, July 7, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 3
Editorial Cell Metabolism Clinical and Translational Reports For the past decade, our aim at Cell Metabolism has been to publish novel, impactful metabolic work spanning basic biomedical and clinical research. While there has traditionally been an element of dichotomy in how the science of basic and clinical research was viewed, the borders between the two have faded, opening the ‘‘translational’’ arena. Cell Metabolism has been publishing translational and clinical studies for years, but given the frequency with which we are asked ‘‘Is Cell Metabolism interested in clinical studies?’’, this realization is not widespread. In the guise of Molie`re’s character who realized he was speaking prose without knowing it, we have created a new research format, Clinical and Translational Report (CTR), specifically designed for clinical and translational research. Examples of what we would consider to be translational metabolic studies that we have published in the past couple of years include: Research Articles such as the first clinical trial of an FGF21 analog in obese diabetic humans (Gaich et al., 2013), glycolysis blockade as an alternative to anti-VEGF therapy in pathological angiogenesis (Schoors et al., 2014), correlating measures of health to diet macronutrient composition in mice and humans (Levine et al., 2014; Solon-Biet et al., 2014), identification and functional characterization of a novel HDL regulator through GWAS analysis and generation of potent lipoxin mimetics (Demetz et al., 2014), use of Mirabegron, an FDA-approved b3-adrenergic receptor agonist, to stimulate human BAT thermogenesis (Cypess et al., 2015), an anti-obesity PI3K pharmacological inhibition study looking at timing and dosage in mice and monkeys (Ortega-Molina et al., 2015); Short Articles such as sodium homeostasis in human space flight simulations (Rakova et al., 2013), a study of cosanguinous patients with neonatal diabetes to identify recessive mutations (Flanagan et al., 2014), improved vascular function and decreased arterial wall stiffening in obese monkeys supplemented with resveratrol (Mattison et al., 2014); and Resource Articles such as a systems genetics approach to link obesity traits and gut microbiota in over 100 inbred mice strains (Parks et al., 2013) and a unique cross-species approach comparing differentially methylated regions in mice, and also in human obesity reversed by gastric bypass, to a diabetes GWAS (Multhaup et al., 2015). This is by no means a comprehensive list but is meant to give the reader an idea of the breadth of translational and clinical studies, which will now be under their unique umbrella category at Cell Metabolism. In this issue, we present four Clinical and Translational Reports: a key role for the nutritionally regulated enzyme carnitine acetyltransferase in offsetting metabolic inertia during exercise in mice and humans (Seiler et al., 2015); the repurposing of an FDA-approved drug to boost pancreatic b cell proliferation (Kondegowda et al., 2015); a fasting-mimicking diet protocol, which retains the health benefits of prolonged fasting, which decreased multiple aging risk factors in mice and humans (Brandhorst et al., 2015); and a report showing that intestinal immunity changes associated with microbiota dysbiosis precede the onset of diabetes (Garidou et al., 2015). We recognize that the interpretation of the terms ‘‘translational’’ and ‘‘clinical’’ can be extensively debated. In general terms, we are looking for solid ‘‘bench to bedside’’ research studies in the metabolic arena, backed up by mechanism at key strategic points on the translational continuum, which spans pre-clinical to applied clinical work. In terms of format, for ease of reading, we see the ideal length to be 5 figures, a general introduction placing the work in context, and a combined results and discussion section. We will continue to place emphasis on a detailed experimental procedures section, which we believe is critical to understand how the experiments were done and interpret the figures. There will be the same limit on supplemental figures as for the other article categories, in this case 5. However, we wanted to take this opportunity to state that we do not see supplemental figures as a necessary requirement for articles; more is not always better. Our interest in clinical and translational studies is not meant to be at the expense of foundational basic research, which is the bedrock of scientific progress. Cell Metabolism will continue to publish strong papers addressing the molecular mechanisms underlying physiology and homeostasis. Furthermore, we believe that investigators conducting traditionally more ‘‘basic’’ and those conducting more ‘‘clinical’’ research can learn from each other. In closing, we believe that the time is right to bring more of our focus on interdisciplinary research, which underlies translational science. Besides the inter-connections among classic biological disciplines and collaborations between academia and the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, we are increasingly seeing more innovation at the intersections with the physical sciences, engineering, and technology. It is indeed an exciting time to think of translational research in the broadest terms, and we look forward to seeing your papers! REFERENCES Brandhorst, S., Choi, I.Y., Wei, M., Cheng, C.W., Sedrakyan, S., Navarrete, G., Dubeau, L., Yap, L.P., Park, R., Vinciguerra, M., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 86–99. Cypess, A.M., Weiner, L.S., Roberts-Toler, C., Franquet Elı´a, E., Kessler, S.H., Kahn, P.A., English, J., Chatman, K., Trauger, S.A., Doria, A., and Kolodny, G.M. (2015). Cell Metab. 21, 33–38.
2 Cell Metabolism 22, July 7, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc.
Cell Metabolism
Editorial Demetz, E., Schroll, A., Auer, K., Heim, C., Patsch, J.R., Eller, P., Theurl, M., Theurl, I., Theurl, M., Seifert, M., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 20, 787–798. Flanagan, S.E., De Franco, E., Lango Allen, H., Zerah, M., Abdul-Rasoul, M.M., Edge, J.A., Stewart, H., Alamiri, E., Hussain, K., Wallis, S., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 146–154. Gaich, G., Chien, J.Y., Fu, H., Glass, L.C., Deeg, M.A., Holland, W.L., Kharitonenkov, A., Bumol, T., Schilske, H.K., and Moller, D.E. (2013). Cell Metab. 18, 333–340. Garidou, L., Pomie´, C., Klopp, P., Waget, A., Charpentier, J., Aloulou, M., Giry, A., Serino, M., Stenman, L., Lahtinen, S., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 100–112. Kondegowda, N.G., Fenutria, R., Pollack, I.R., Orthofer, M., Garcia-Ocan˜a, A., Penninger, J.M., and Vasavada, R.C. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 77–85. Levine, M.E., Suarez, J.A., Brandhorst, S., Balasubramanian, P., Cheng, C.-W., Madia, F., Fontana, L., Mirisola, M.G., Guevara-Aguirre, J., Wan, J., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 407–417. Mattison, J.A., Wang, M., Bernier, M., Zhang, J., Park, S.-S., Maudsley, S., An, S.S., Santhanam, L., Martin, B., Faulkner, S., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 20, 183–190. Multhaup, M.L., Seldin, M.M., Jaffe, A.E., Lei, X., Kirchner, H., Mondal, P., Li, Y., Rodriguez, V., Drong, A., Hussain, M., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 21, 138–149. Ortega-Molina, A., Lopez-Guadamillas, E., Mattison, J.A., Mitchell, S.J., Mun˜oz-Martin, M., Iglesias, G., Gutierrez, V.M., Vaughan, K.L., Szarowicz, M.D., Gonza´lez-Garcı´a, I., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 21, 558–570. Parks, B.W., Nam, E., Org, E., Kostem, E., Norheim, F., Hui, S.T., Pan, C., Civelek, M., Rau, C.D., Bennett, B.J., et al. (2013). Cell Metab. 17, 141–152. Rakova, N., Ju¨ttner, K., Dahlmann, A., Schro¨der, A., Linz, P., Kopp, C., Rauh, M., Goller, U., Beck, L., Agureev, A., et al. (2013). Cell Metab. 17, 125–131. Schoors, S., De Bock, K., Cantelmo, A.R., Georgiadou, M., Ghesquie`re, B., Cauwenberghs, S., Kuchnio, A., Wong, B.W., Quaegebeur, A., Goveia, J., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 37–48. Seiler, S.E., Koves, T.R., Gooding, J.R., Wong, K.E., Stevens, R.D., Ilkayeva, O.R., Wittmann, A.H., DeBalsi, K.L., Davies, M.N., Lindeboom, L., et al. (2015). Cell Metab. 22, this issue, 65–76. Solon-Biet, S.M., McMahon, A.C., Ballard, J.W.O., Ruohonen, K., Wu, L.E., Cogger, V.C., Warren, A., Huang, X., Pichaud, N., Melvin, R.G., et al. (2014). Cell Metab. 19, 418–430.
Nikla Emambokus Editor, Cell Metabolism
Anne Granger
Scientific Editor, Cell Metabolism http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2015.06.019
Cell Metabolism 22, July 7, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 3
