Metabolic Regulation of Cell Differentiation

Abstract

Growing research suggests that metabolism itself may play a role in inducing cellular differentiation. This concept stems from three different experimental approaches involving hypoxia, nutrient metabolites, and phosphate analogues, that appear to modulate cellular differentiation by influencing the available cellular energy needed for biosynthetic processes. Possible explanatory mechanisms that could lead to subsequent changes in gene expression include the availability of key metabolites needed for epigenetic changes to occur and/or kinases that can sense the cellular energy charge.