Tu named finalist for innovative metabolism research

UT Southwestern biochemist Dr. Benjamin Tu has been selected as one of 31 finalists for the 2018 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists for his innovative studies of molecules that could help improve treatments for cancer and conditions associated with aging.

Dr. Tu's research uses both yeast and mammalian cells to study complex DNA-regulating processes that are linked to the internal workings of cells.

"The influence and importance of the metabolic state on cell regulation are far too often overlooked and we aim to decipher these very complex mechanisms," said Dr. Tu, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, who holds the Martha Steiner Professorship in Medical Research. "Our research has begun to show that small molecule metabolites play underappreciated roles in the regulation of growth and survival of cells."

Dr. Tu's laboratory opened a new area for investigation with findings that identified chromatin methylation as important to the production of the amino acid cysteine—results that suggest methylation might be as important to metabolism as it is to gene expression.

"UT Southwestern is fortunate to have innovative scientists like Ben, whose discoveries in metabolism and biochemistry have revealed how intracellular levels of intermediary metabolites coordinate cell growth and physiology," said Biochemistry Chair Dr. Margaret Phillips, who is also Professor of Pharmacology and holds The Sam G. Winstead and F. Andrew Bell Distinguished Chair in Biochemistry.

Provided by UT Southwestern Medical Center