Spiegelman set for Discovery Lecture
Bruce Spiegelman, Ph.D., a leader in the study of fat cell metabolism, will deliver the next Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Dec. 1. His lecture, “Transcriptional Control of Adipogenesis: Toward a New Generation of Therapeutics,” will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall. The lecture is the annual Irwin Eskind, M.D., Lecture, which honors Eskind for his support of many important programs at Vanderbilt.
Spiegelman is the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Bruce Spiegelman, Ph.D.
In 1994, he and his colleagues identified the master regulator of fat development, the nuclear receptor PPAR-gamma, and they have focused on understanding the pathways that control PPAR-gamma function.
PPAR-gamma is the target of the thiazolidinedione class of anti-diabetes drugs (e.g. rosiglitazone, pioglitazone), suggesting that a full understanding of this receptor’s regulation and roles may point toward other promising therapeutics.
Spiegelman and his colleagues have a particular interest in transcriptional factors that regulate the expression of PPAR-gamma and its targets.
PGC-1 proteins are transcriptional co-activators that bind to PPAR-gamma and regulate the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism.
Because PGC-1 proteins have roles in muscle wasting, neurodegeneration and energy balance in vivo, Spiegelman’s team is collaborating with the Broad Institute to find chemical compounds that can modulate PGC-1 amounts and activities.
The Vanderbilt Diabetes Center and the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics are sponsoring Spiegelman’s lecture. For a complete schedule of the Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.