Endogenous Metabolic Modulators: Emerging Therapeutic Potential of Amino Acids

Michael J Hamill; Raffi Afeyan; Manu V Chakravarthy; Tony Tramontin

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101628

Endogenous Metabolic Modulators: Emerging Therapeutic Potential of Amino Acids

iScience. 2020 Sep 29;23(10):101628. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101628. eCollection 2020 Oct 23.

Authors

Michael J Hamill¹, Raffi Afeyan², Manu V Chakravarthy¹, Tony Tramontin¹

Affiliations

¹ Axcella Health Inc., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
² Flagship Pioneering, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Abstract

Multifactorial disease pathophysiology is complex and incompletely addressed by existing targeted pharmacotherapies. Amino acids (AAs) and related metabolites and precursors are a class of endogenous metabolic modulators (EMMs) that have diverse biological functions and, thus, have been explored for decades as potential multifactorial disease treatments. Here, we review the literature on this class of EMMs in disease treatment, with a focus on the emerging clinical studies on AAs and related metabolites and precursors as single- and combination-agents targeted to a single biology. These clinical research insights, in addition to increasing understanding of disease metabolic profiles and combinatorial therapeutic design principles, highlight an opportunity to develop EMM compositions with AAs and related metabolites and precursors to target multifactorial disease biology. EMM compositions are uniquely designed to enable a comprehensive approach, with potential to simultaneously and safely target pathways underlying multifactorial diseases and to regulate biological processes that promote overall health.

Keywords: Health Sciences; Human Physiology; Pathophysiology.

Publication types

Review