Recent News

Dr. Charles Brenner was recently interviewed by Dr. Kazuo Tzubota, President of the Japanese Society of Anti-Aging Medicine, on the topic of NAD, nicotinamide riboside supplementation and aging. The interview was published in the Society's magazine Anti-Aging Medicine, read the full interview PDF iconhere.

Research Interests

Cellular function and differentiation depend on an ability to read environmental cues and to execute a gene expression program that is appropriate to time, place and context. Nutrient availability is among the most important signals to which cells respond. Importantly, nutrients are not only transmitted from outside an organism, i.e., by feeding, but are also transmitted from cell to cell and from tissue to tissue. Metabolic control of gene expression is critical to the maintenance of cellular longevity. Dysregulation of the nutritional control of gene expression underlies a series of conditions including nondetection of satiety, which can lead to obesity and diabetes, and diseases such as cancer.

Our laboratory is engaged in several projects that dissect specific problems in the metabolic control of gene expression. In particular, we are interested in how changing environmental conditions lead to reversible transfer of two carbon, i.e. acetyl, and one carbon, i.e. methyl, groups to proteins and DNA, respectively. These processes are fundamentally important because two carbon transfers link carbohydrate and fat metabolism to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthesis and because one carbon transfers link the folate cycle and methionine biosynthesis to S-adenosyl methionine metabolism. Trainees in our group are engaged in interdisciplinary projects, performing protein purification, enzymology, structural biology, yeast and somatic cell genetics, genomics, and chemical biology.

For more information on current projects, see the current research page.

Recent Publications

J. Ratajczak, M. Joffraud, S.A.J. Trammell, R. Ras, N. Canela, M. Boutant, S.S. Kulkarni, M. Rodrigues, P. Redpath, M.E. Migaud, J. Auwerx, O. Yanes, C. Brenner & C. Canto, "NRK1 controls nicotinamide mononucleotide and nicotinamide riboside metabolism in mammalian cells." Nature Communications. v. 7, pp. 13103. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13103. Download pdf reprint.

S.A.J. Trammell, M.S. Schmidt, B.J.Weidemann, P. Redpath, F. Jaksch, R.W. Dellinger, Z. Li, E.D. Abel, M.E. Migaud & C. Brenner, “Nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans,” Nature Communications, v. 7, 12948 (2016). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12948. PDF iconreprint. 

S.A.J. Trammell, B.J.Weidemann, A.Chadda, M.S. Yorek, A. Holmes, L.J.Coppey, A. Obrosov, R.H. Kardon, M.A. Yorek & C. Brenner, “Nicotinamide Riboside Opposes Type 2 Diabetes and Neuropathy in Mice,” Scientific Reports, v. 6, 26933 (2016). DOI: 10.1038/srep26933. Download pdf PDF iconreprint.

S.-C. Mei & C. Brenner, "Calorie Restriction-Mediated Replicative Lifespan Extension in Yeast Is Non-Cell Autonomous," PLoS Biology, v. 13, e1002048 (2015). Download pdf PDF iconreprint.

C. Brenner, “Boosting NAD to Spare Hearing,” Cell Metabolism, v. 21, pp.926-927 (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2014.11.015. Download pdf PDF iconreprint. 

B.-K. Wu & C. Brenner, "Suppression of TET1-Dependent DNA Demethylation is Essential for KRAS-Mediated Transformation," Cell Reports, v. 9, pp. 1827-1840 (2014). DOI:10.1016/j.celrep.2014.10.063. Download pdf PDF iconreprint.

C. Brenner, "Metabolism: Targeting a fat-accumulation gene" Nature, v. 508, pp. 194-195 (2014). DOI: 10.1038/508194a. Download pdf PDF iconreprint. 

R.L. Fagan, D.E. Cryderman, L. Kopelovich, L.L. Wallrath & C. Brenner, "Laccaic Acid A is a Direct, DNA-Competitive Inhibitor of DNA Methyltransferase 1," J Biol Chem, v.288, pp. 23858-23867 (2013). DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M113.480517. Download pdfPDF iconreprint.

S. Ghanta, R.E. Grossmann & C. Brenner, "Mitochondrial protein acetylation as a cell-intrinsic, evolutionary driver of fat storage: chemical and metabolic logic of acetyl-lysine modifications" Critical Rev Biochem & Mol Biol, v. 48, pp. 561-574 (2013). Download pdf PDF iconreprint.  

S.A.J. Trammell & C. Brenner, "Targeted, LCMC-Based Metabolomics for Quantitative Measurement of NAD+ Metabolites," Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, v. 4, e201301012 (2013). DOI: 10.5936/csbj.201301012. Download pdf PDF iconreprint. 

F. Syeda, R.L. Fagan, M. Wean, G.V. Awakumov, J.R. Walker, S. Xue, S. Dhe-Paganon, & C. Brenner, "The RFTS Domain is a DNA-competitive Inhibitor of Dnmt1", JBC, v. 286, pp. 15344-15351 (2011). Download pdf PDF iconreprint.

P. Belenky, F.G. Racette, K.L. Bogan, J.M. McClure, J.S. Smith & C. Brenner, "Nicotinamide Riboside Promotes Sir2 Silencing and Extends Lifespan via Nrk and Urh1/Pnp1/Meu1 Pathways to NAD+," Cell, v. 129, pp. 473-484 (2007). Download pdf PDF iconreprint.

Visit Google Scholar for all of Dr. Brenner's publications.

Secondary Appointment

Internal Medicine

Affiliations