In Person Seminar: Cross-Organ Communication Through Lipid Signaling
Judith Simcox, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar: Cross-Organ Communication Through Lipid Signaling
Sept. 3, 2021
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Video of this presentation will not be archived.
About this Seminar
Cold exposure is an energy demanding selective pressure. In response to a cold challenge, mammals activate nonshivering thermogenesis in brown adipocytes to produce heat. This process requires mobilization of peripheral stores of glucose and lipids that are produced by the white adipose tissue and liver. Dr. Simcox aims to understand the various lipids that are important for thermogenesis, determine where they are produced, and to functionally characterize their role in heat production. To answer these questions, her lab used age mice which are cold intolerant and defend a lower temperature set point. Using global lipidomics, her team found that circulating lipids are different in young and old mice and humans. In mice, this circulating lipid pool shifts with cold exposure in an age dependent manner. They also found that circulating sphingolipids and their metabolites are increased in cold exposure. Sphingolipid production is necessary for thermogenesis, and using acute pharmacological inhibition of sphingolipid synthesis led to cold intolerance. These extracellular sphingolipids act on brown adipocytes to regulate insulin sensitivity and increase fatty acid oxidation. Collectively, these findings show the signaling role of circulating lipids in thermogenesis and energy homeostasis.
Additional Details
This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and co-sponsored by the institute's Center for Vascular and Heart Research. The Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series, which runs annually from September to May, has featured leading biomedical researchers from throughout the country since the program began in 2012. The lectures are also open to all members of the Virginia Tech community including graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, and staff, as well as the public.
You May Also Be Interested In...
-
Home ItemIn Person Seminar: Deciphering the Metabolic Origins of Heart Failure: Towards Novel Therapeutic Targets , home
March 22, 2024, 11 a.m. | Daniel Kelly, Ph.D., Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor, Director, Penn and CHOP Cardiovascular Institutes, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Vascular and Heart Research
-
Home ItemCANCELLED: In Person Seminar: Circadian Clocks in Skeletal Muscle; Contributions to Systemic Health , home
March 29, 2024, 11:00 a.m. | Karyn Esser, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Physiology and Aging, University of Florida College of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Exercise Medicine Research
-
Home ItemThe Impact of Climate Change on Vulnerable Populations: What Can Be Done? , home
April 4, 2024, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Zulfiqar Bhutta, Ph.D., Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Nutritional Sciences and Public Health, University of Toronto | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
-
Home ItemIn Person Seminar: The Meaning of Dopamine , home
April 5, 2024, 11:00 a.m. | Henry Yin, Ph.D., Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University School of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Neurobiology Research
-
Home ItemWhat is Alzheimer's Disease and Can We Prevent It? , home
April 11, 2024, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Kristine Yaffe, M.D., Professor and Roy and Marie Scola Endowed Chair of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Epidemiology, Director, Center for Population Brain Health, University of California, San Francisco, Member, National Academy of Medicine | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
-
Home ItemIn Person Seminar: Addiction Recovery: From Culture to Science , home
April 12, 2024, 11:00 a.m. | John Kelly, Ph.D., Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Health Behaviors Research and the Addiction Recovery Research Center