Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23063526›Full record

ArticleMolecular cell2012

The Warburg effect dictates the mechanism of butyrate-mediated histone acetylation and cell proliferation.

Dallas R Donohoe, Leonard B Collins, Aminah Wali, Rebecca Bigler, Wei Sun, Scott J Bultman

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular cell, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 558 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
558citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
11.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

558 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 895 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Short-Chain Fatty Acids and the Gut-Retina Connection: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
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  19. Histone deacetylases in cancer metabolic reprogramming.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026
    Review
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498 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Dallas R DonohoeDepartment of Genetics and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Leonard B Collins
Aminah Wali
Rebecca Bigler
Wei Sun
Scott J Bultman
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · US

Funding

UNC-CH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH &SUSCEPTIBILITYP30ES010126 · NIEHS · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Melissa A. Troester · 2001 to 2026
$36.3M
Dietary Fiber, Gut Microflora, & Epigenetic Events that Prevent Colorectal CancerR01CA125237 · NCI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI BULTMAN, SCOTT J · 2007 to 2011
$1.4M
NCI NIH HHS CA125237NCI NIH HHS R01 CA125237NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES010126NIEHS NIH HHS P30-ES10126
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Widespread changes in gene expression drive tumorigenesis, yet our knowledge of how aberrant epigenomic and transcriptome profiles arise in cancer cells is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that metabolic transformation plays an important role. Butyrate is the primary energy source of normal colonocytes and is metabolized to acetyl-CoA, which was shown to be important not only for energetics but also for HAT activity. Due to the Warburg effect, cancerous colonocytes rely on glucose as their primary energy source, so butyrate accumulated and functioned as an HDAC inhibitor. Although both mechanisms increased histone acetylation, different target genes were upregulated. Consequently, butyrate stimulated the proliferation of normal colonocytes and cancerous colonocytes when the Warburg effect was prevented from occurring, whereas it inhibited the proliferation of cancerous colonocytes undergoing the Warburg effect. These findings link a common metabolite to epigenetic mechanisms that are differentially utilized by normal and cancerous cells because of their inherent metabolic differences.

Indexed as

Models, BiologicalAcetylationButyratesCell ProliferationHCT116 CellsHistonesHT29 CellsHumansTumor Cells, CulturedButyratesHistones

Identifiers

PMID23063526
PMCPMC3513569
OpenAlexW1994687037

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.