The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Ronald M. Evans, Ph.D., professor and director, gene expression laboratory; March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Speaker bio(s)

The ability to adapt to cycles of feast and famine is critical for survival. By controlling networks of genes in major metabolic organs, nuclear hormone receptors (NHRs) play central roles in this process. As part of a screen to identify genes that respond to feast and famine cues, the Evans lab discovered that fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) is induced in white adipose tissue in response to high-fat-diet and repressed during a fast, pointing to an unexpected metabolic function. Because FGF1-deficient mice are normal, it was thought to be a nonessential gene. However, on high-fat diet, FGF1-deficient mice develop an aggressive diabetic phenotype, with adipose progressively becoming fibrotic and unable to adapt to nutrient stress.

 

As FGF1 knockout mice on high-fat diet are insulin resistant and diabetic, Dr. Evans and his colleagues were interested in whether synthetic FGF1 could restore insulin sensitization. Though endogenous FGF1 only acts locally, ‘endocrinization’ of FGF1 by simple injection restores insulin sensitivity in obese diabetic mice. Thus, ‘endocrinized’ FGF-1 is a potent metabolic regulator and therapeutic in the management of type II diabetes.

 

Part of Dr. Evans’ presentation focuses on obesity and sedentary behavior, which are both major health risks for type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease. Bariatric surgical procedures such as vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) are the most effective treatment of obesity and its co-morbidities. Dr. Evans will describe an unusual NHR-druggable pathway that achieves the benefits of VSG in weight loss and diabetes without the drug ever getting into the body.

 

Dr. Evans received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed postdoctoral work at Rockefeller in the laboratory of James Darnell and joined the faculty of the Salk Institute in 1978. He is the recipient of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, the Dale Medal, the Wolf Prize in Medicine, the Harvey Prize in Human Health, the Glenn T. Seaborg Medal, the Grande Médaille D'Or of France, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the Canada Gairdner International Award and the Albany Medical Center Prize. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institue of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He has been an HHMI investigator since 1985.

Open to

Public

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Linda Hanssler

Phone

(212) 327-7714

Sponsor

Linda Hanssler
(212) 327-7714
lhanssler@rockefeller.edu

Readings

http://librarynews.rockefeller.edu/?p=3665