Depletion Of Individual Dietary Amino Acids Induce Distinct Metabolic And Chromatin States
Our diet plays a crucial role in our health, and it’s not just about the total amount of protein we consume, but also the specific building blocks of protein, called essential amino acids. Recent research has shed light on how reducing the intake of individual essential amino acids can profoundly impact our bodies.
This study reveals that when specific essential amino acids, such as methionine, leucine, or isoleucine, are limited in the diet, the body undergoes unique metabolic reprogramming. This means the way our cells process nutrients for energy and growth changes in distinct ways depending on which amino acid is restricted. Furthermore, these dietary changes also influence chromatin states, which refers to how our DNA is packaged within cells, ultimately affecting which genes are turned on or off.
Interestingly, the effects observed from restricting individual amino acids were not simply a result of inhibiting a general cellular growth pathway (mTORC1). For instance, limiting isoleucine led to particularly striking and unique responses, including specific changes to histone modifications—chemical tags on proteins that help package DNA—and the maintenance of key energy molecules in the liver, even when fat breakdown for energy was reduced. These findings highlight that each essential amino acid may have its own unique way of influencing our metabolic health and gene regulation.
Source: link to paper