{"id":26464,"date":"2005-06-19T21:29:42","date_gmt":"2005-06-19T19:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=26464"},"modified":"2024-11-14T16:05:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:05:38","slug":"link-between-bodys-energy-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"A link between our body&#8217;s energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"vf-figure  | vf-figure--align vf-figure--align-inline-start   size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">PhD student Georg Kustatscher and Dr. Andreas Ladurner<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"vf-figure  | vf-figure--align vf-figure--align-inline-start   size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic2-300x222.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic2-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic2.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Living organisms need to sense the amount of energy that is available to them and regulate the activity of their genes accordingly. Scientists have made the unexpected finding that a histone protein, which wraps DNA into tight bundles and regulates gene activity, can bind a small molecule produced in our cells. This novel finding in itself was a breakthrough for researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL], but what made it more interesting was which specific molecule it binds \u2013 one from a pathway known to be linked to obesity and aging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EMBL researchers studied a pathway involving an enzyme [Sir2], whose activity is regulated by the availability of nutrients, and an energy molecule [NAD]. This pathway, and the enzyme Sir2 in particular, has been heavily investigated because nutrients are known to regulate Sir2&#8217;s activity on genes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Each enzyme&#8217;s job is to turn starting materials into final products. These usually have important functions, but while several scientists have studied the enzyme Sir2, no one has identified a role for one of the final products of the reaction in humans,&#8221; says EMBL Group Leader Andreas Ladurner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Sir2 binds to NAD, it breaks down the energy molecule into smaller components. What the EMBL researchers found was that one of these components plugs neatly into a special pocket of the histone that the researchers were studying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This discovery is the first evidence of a small compound binding directly to a histone. As the activity of Sir2 is regulated by the amount of food and nutrients, this finding suggests the existence of a direct link between one of the products of the Sir2 pathway and gene regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It is very exciting that a histone should be able to recognize one of the compounds that Sir2 produces. We are now looking at how such a small molecule may be able to tweak our genes and therefore our body&#8217;s response to changes in the availability of food and energy,&#8221; Ladurner says. PhD student Georg Kustatscher and Dr. Andreas Ladurner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Living organisms need to sense the amount of energy that is available to them and regulate the activity of their genes accordingly. Scientists have made the unexpected finding that a histone protein, which wraps DNA into tight bundles and regulates gene activity, can bind a small molecule produced&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17591],"tags":[266,40,2016],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-26464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","category-science-technology","tag-enzyme","tag-gene-regulation","tag-histone"],"acf":{"show_featured_image":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"article_intro":"","article_sources":[{"source_description":"<p>Splicing regulates NAD metabolite binding to histone macroH2A<br \/>\nG. Kustatscher, M. Hothorn, C. Pugieux, K. Scheffzek and A. Ladurner<br \/>\n<em>Nature Structural and Molecular Biology<\/em>, 19 June 2005<\/p>\n","source_link_url":""}],"related_links":false,"in_this_article":false,"color":"#007B53","youtube_url":"","mp4_url":"","video_caption":"","translations":false,"press_contact":"EMBL Generic"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A link between our body&#039;s energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA? | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A link between our body&#039;s energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA? | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Living organisms need to sense the amount of energy that is available to them and regulate the activity of their genes accordingly. Scientists have made the unexpected finding that a histone protein, which wraps DNA into tight bundles and regulates gene activity, can bind a small molecule produced&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-06-19T19:29:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-14T15:05:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest author(s)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest author(s)\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b\"},\"headline\":\"A link between our body&#8217;s energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA?\",\"datePublished\":\"2005-06-19T19:29:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T15:05:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\"},\"wordCount\":361,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"enzyme\",\"gene regulation\",\"histone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Science &amp; Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\",\"name\":\"A link between our body's energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA? | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2005-06-19T19:29:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T15:05:38+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"PhD student Georg Kustatscher and Dr. Andreas Ladurner\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b\",\"name\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest author(s)\"},\"description\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/guest-author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A link between our body's energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA? | EMBL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A link between our body's energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA? | EMBL","og_description":"Living organisms need to sense the amount of energy that is available to them and regulate the activity of their genes accordingly. Scientists have made the unexpected finding that a histone protein, which wraps DNA into tight bundles and regulates gene activity, can bind a small molecule produced&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_published_time":"2005-06-19T19:29:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-14T15:05:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Guest author(s)","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@embl","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest author(s)","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest author(s)","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b"},"headline":"A link between our body&#8217;s energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA?","datePublished":"2005-06-19T19:29:42+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T15:05:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/"},"wordCount":361,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg","keywords":["enzyme","gene regulation","histone"],"articleSection":["Science","Science &amp; Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/","name":"A link between our body's energy levels and a protein that wraps our DNA? | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1-300x300.jpg","datePublished":"2005-06-19T19:29:42+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T15:05:38+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/link-between-bodys-energy-levels\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/press19jun05pic1.jpg","width":600,"height":600,"caption":"PhD student Georg Kustatscher and Dr. Andreas Ladurner"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b","name":"Guest author(s)","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/300b9a1d66050ae03eaeb99869c6ebb30f5184b9468e92a2b3e7d28bc9cf742d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest author(s)"},"description":"Guest author(s)","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/guest-author\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":false,"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26464"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26478,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26464\/revisions\/26478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26464"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=26464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}