It is well established that obesity greatly increases diabetes risk, yet the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Professor James Granneman is an integrative biologist whose research investigates basic fat cell functions to identify novel molecular targets for therapeutic intervention. As part of this effort, his laboratory used high throughput screening to discover novel compounds that coax fat cells into burning energy rather than storing it.
The hepatic metabolism and the endocrine function of the liver are central in the development and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Exercise studies in rodents indicate the contribution of molecular adaptations in the liver to the beneficial effects of physical activity on glucose tolerance and metabolic homeostasis. However, molecular studies on the adaptation of human liver metabolism to exercise and the role of hepatokines herein are limited.
The aim of the collaborative project is to study the physiological role of hexokinase for metabolic regulation in skeletal muscles. Hexokinase activity is inhibited by glucose 6-phosphate, but it has recently been shown that hexokinase is phosphorylated. The physiological role of hexokinase phosphorylation for regulating glucose metabolism in skeletal muscles is unknown.
Obesity is a major risk factor for numerous metabolic and cardiovascular complications, leading to type 2 diabetes (T2D), dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, not all obese individuals develop complications; about 17-45% of obese individuals remain metabolically healthy (the so-called “metabolically healthy obese”, MHO).
K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, MSc, MBA, FRCP. Currently Ruth and O.C. Hubert Chair of Global Health, and Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Narayan is noted for substantial, multidisciplinary work in diabetes epidemiology.
Our working hypothesis for the project "Extracellular RNAs as biomarkers and mediators in metabolic function and disease" is that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) contained in extracellular vesicles (EVs) have biomarker potential (carry information about the tissues and cells of origin) and may be bioactive in target tissues (act as a signaling mechanism) in the pathologies of obesity, type 2 diabetes and co- morbidities such as cancer. To test this hypothesis, we aim to perform the following:
Professor Chittaranjan Yajnik is the Director of the Diabetes Unit at the King Edward Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Pune, India. He trained in Pune, India and Oxford, UK. His research focuses on the high susceptibility of Indians to diabetes and related disorders, and is known for his description of the ‘thin fat Indian’.
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