Multimedia series: an energetic pursuit

A new Whitehead Institute study investigates the role a family of proteins called Sestrins plays in sensing the presence of the essential amino acid leucine, as well as adapting to its absence. The presence of Sestrin allows fruit flies to choose foods rich in leucine over foods without the nutrient.

The amino acid leucine is necessary to build and maintain muscle. Researchers at Whitehead Institute reveal how the presence or absence of leucine is communicated to a key metabolic pathway in mice.

Institute researchers continue to pioneer a deeper understanding of how metabolic processes contribute to health and disease – with long-term implications that could range from new treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes to methods for slowing the aging process. Here are a few examples of Whitehead Institute scientists’ creative and pioneering work in the field of metabolism.