Seminar "A novel signaling cascade that regulates brown adipocyte function" Dr. Kazuki Hattori, Feb 23.

Dear all,

Cell Signal Unit (Yamamoto Unit) would like to invite you to a seminar by Dr. Kazuki Hattori.

Speaker: Kazuki Hattori

Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Cell Signaling, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Title: A novel signaling cascade that regulates brown adipocyte function

Abstract: Brown adipose tissue is in the spotlight as a therapeutic target for several metabolic diseases. ASK1, a member of MAP kinase cascade, became evident that it is highly expressed in adipose tissues; however the function of ASK1 remained to be identified. Through DNA microarray analysis, we revealed that the expression levels of specific subset of genes, which are known to be involved in thermogenesis, were suppressed in ASK1-deficient brown adipose tissue. Further analyses using primary culture of brown adipocytes elucidated that PKA-ASK1-p38 pathway regulates gene induction during the course of differentiation. Thermogenesis in brown adipocytes and metabolic responsiveness in mice were impaired by ASK1-deficiency, which represents the significance of ASK1 in the function of brown adipose tissue.

Host:

Tadashi Yamamoto, Cell Signal Unit