A new role for α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex: regulating metabolism through post-translational modification of other enzymes.

This Editorial highlights a study by Gibson et al. published in this issue of JNeurochem, in which the authors reveal a novel role for the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (KGDHC) in post-translational modification of proteins. KGDHC may catalyze post-translational modification of itself as well as several other proteins by succinylation of lysine residues. The authors' report of an enzyme responsible for succinylation of key mitochondrial enzymes represents a major step toward our understanding of the complex functional metabolome. TCA, tricarboxylic acid; KG, α-ketoglutarate; KGDHC, α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex; FUM, fumarase; MDH, malate dehydrogenase; ME, malic enzyme; GDH, glutamate dehydrogenase; AAT, aspartate aminotransferase; GS, glutamine synthetase; PAG, phosphate-activated glutaminase; SIRT3, silent information regulator 3; SIRT5, silent information regulator 5.