energy metabolism
Definition
Energy metabolism encompasses the biochemical pathways that convert nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and other energy-rich molecules to power cellular processes. This includes catabolic pathways like glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation that break down glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids, as well as anabolic pathways that synthesize complex molecules. Energy metabolism is central to cellular homeostasis and is dysregulated in numerous diseases including cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, and metabolic syndromes. Metabolomics approaches measure the concentrations of metabolites involved in these pathways, providing quantitative snapshots of cellular energetic states and revealing how perturbations affect metabolic flux through interconnected biochemical networks.
Visualize energy metabolism in Nodes Bio
Researchers can map energy metabolism networks by connecting metabolites, enzymes, and regulatory proteins as nodes with edges representing biochemical transformations and regulatory relationships. Nodes Bio enables visualization of metabolic flux changes across experimental conditions, identification of rate-limiting steps, and integration of metabolomics data with transcriptomics to reveal coordinated regulatory mechanisms. Network analysis can uncover metabolic bottlenecks and alternative pathway activation in disease states.
Visualization Ideas:
- Metabolite-enzyme bipartite networks showing substrate-product relationships in glycolysis and TCA cycle
- Multi-omics integration networks connecting metabolites, enzymes, and transcription factors regulating energy pathways
- Comparative pathway networks highlighting metabolic flux differences between healthy and disease states
Example Use Case
A cancer research team investigating Warburg effect mechanisms uses metabolomics to profile glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolites in tumor versus normal cells. They discover elevated lactate production despite oxygen availability and reduced TCA cycle intermediates. By visualizing the energy metabolism network in Nodes Bio, they identify upregulated glycolytic enzymes and suppressed oxidative phosphorylation components. Integration with gene expression data reveals HIF-1α-mediated transcriptional rewiring, suggesting potential therapeutic targets to restore normal mitochondrial function and sensitize tumors to treatment.