News Release

Case Western Reserve researchers' new pathway discovery published as 'Paper of the Week'

Journal of Biological Chemistry identifies a study conducted at the School of Medicine study as an 'exemplary prototype'

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University researchers, from the School of Medicine's Department of Nutrition, discovered two new metabolic pathways by which products of lipid peroxidation and some drugs of abuse, known as 4-hydroxyacids, are metabolized. The pathways were identified by a combination of metabolomics and mass isotopomer analysis. The findings shed new light on the mechanism of action of the drug of abuse gamma-hydroxybutyrate, also known as "the date rape drug." The manuscript published in the November 27th issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry was named a "Paper of the Week." Such papers are chosen from the top one percent of all articles submitted to the prestigious peer-reviewed journal. This type of rare breakthrough sets the ground work for future discoveries.

This work was supported by a RoadMap grant from the National Institutes of Health, a grant from the National Institute of Environment Health Sciences, as well as by a grant from the Cleveland Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation. The RoadMap grant funded the development of metabolomics at Case Western Reserve, as well as the acquisition of a top-of-the-line mass spectrometer. This instrument allowed this and multiple other studies to be conducted. The RoadMap initiative allowed a quantum jump in the development of metabolic research at the School of Medicine.

"Our finding will lead to studies that will increase the understanding of metabolic disturbances that occur during oxidative stress. The latter is part of the pathology of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and inflammation," says Guo-Fang Zhang, Ph.D., Research Associate in the Department of Nutrition at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. "We hope that the upcoming studies will lead to the design of new treatments that minimize the effects of oxidative stress."

"Paving a Catabolic Highway," an editorial about this landmark study concluded, "Overall, this study represents an exemplary prototype for any projects that aim to identify incomplete or unknown metabolic pathways."

"A combined effort of Case Western Reserve University and the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation since 1990 has lead to the building of this department's research program and the conception of this groundbreaking finding," says Henri Brunengraber, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Author, Professor, and Chair of the Department of Nutrition. "We plan to expand this project in close collaboration with Gregory P. Tochtrop, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Tochtrop and his group have synthesized a number of carbon 13-labeled compounds which allowed the unraveling of the steps of the new pathways we discovered".

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Dr. Brunengraber was recently named the inaugural Mt. Sinai Auxiliary Commemorative Chair in Nutrition Research. The professorship was made possible by a grant from the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation to commemorate the Mt. Sinai Community Partners, formerly the Mt. Sinai Auxiliary.

Collaborators of this study also included the Case Western Reserve University Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center (http://www.mmpc.org), run by Dr. Brunengraber and two other faculty from the Department of Nutrition, Dr. Colleen Croniger and Dr. Michelle Puchowicz.

About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Eleven Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school.

Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News &World Report "Guide to Graduate Education."

The School of Medicine's primary affiliate is University Hospitals Case Medical Center and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. http://casemed.case.edu.


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