Sergey Krupenko
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Biochemistry
Folate, a B vitamin, carries small one-carbon chemical units the body uses to build DNA components and amino acids. Common genetic differences in the enzymes that handle folate may change how individuals respond to the folate in their diet.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Genetics
Public Health & Epidemiology
- Topics
folate metabolism
one-carbon metabolism
10-formyltetrahydrofolate
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Characterize the catalytic activity and stability of ALDH1L1 enzyme variants encoded by common human haplotypes, testing whether protein-altering SNPs impair conversion of 10-formyl-THF to THF.
- Determine how major ALDH1L1 haplotypes reshape overall cellular metabolism, measured as metabolic profiles, and how these effects change with different folate supplements.
- Link ALDH1L1 haplotypes to folate-dependent regulation of glycine, including serine-to-glycine ratios, and to markers of metabolic health in human populations.
More about the research
ALDH1L1 is one such enzyme. It converts 10-formyltetrahydrofolate (10-formyl-THF) into tetrahydrofolate (THF). This reaction helps regulate the making of purines, which are DNA building blocks, and the recycling of homocysteine. It may also control how one-carbon units flow into the cell's building pathways.
Why it matters
ALDH1L1 variants are very common, and their frequencies differ between populations. If specific haplotypes change how people process dietary folate, some individuals may need adjusted folate intake. The work could also establish these population-specific variants as risk factors for metabolic disease, including the metabolic stress and adiposity seen in Hispanic children.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sima Ramratnam
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Identify genes associated with preschool-onset asthma, which begins before age four, through a candidate gene association study.
Michael Pacold
New York University, NY·Biochemistry
Identify metabolic adaptations, such as alternative sources of serine and glycine, that cells need to enter and survive in the low-nutrient brain, and determine whether these arise before or after brain entry.
Elimelda Ongeri
North Carolina A & T State University, NC·Biochemistry
Determine how single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the meprin beta gene change the enzyme's interactions with its substrates and with sheddases, the enzymes that release it from cells.
The school
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: 72 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 523 research doctorates a year.
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