Endocrinology Research
Sanchez Gurmaches Lab

Understanding the Mechanisms of Adipocyte Functions

Obesity is one of the principal risk factors for metabolic dysregulations, including type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular disease and stroke. Therefore, obesity creates incredible emotional, health and economic burdens worldwide. We are in desperate need of new therapies to reduce or reverse the effects of obesity. The long-term objective of our research program is to elucidate the developmental and metabolic mechanisms that control adipocyte functions. To address this goal, we are combining the strengths of mouse and human genetics, genome engineering tools, innovative lineage tracing techniques that allow single-cell resolution, genomics, metabolomics and metabolite tracing, cell biology, and biochemical techniques.

Our research interests include:

To understand the developmental and metabolic basis of adipocyte heterogeneity
To understand how metabolic and signaling pathways impact adipose tissue distribution and function
To dissect the functional relationship between AKT signaling and ChREBP transcriptional activity with brown fat thermogenic capacity.
To explore human genetics diversity to obtain new insights into adipose tissue biology

Types of adipocytes (A) and location of most commonly used adipose tissues (B). All types of adipocytes show remarkable morphological, molecular, and functional plasticity (C). Adapted from PMID 26874575.