Guoxun Chen, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition, recently received the prestigious Young Investigator Award from the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism, American Heart Association (AHA), as well as a Scientist Development Grant of $308,000 to support his research on the roles of vitamin A in the regulation of sugar and fat metabolism. Chen was invited to be a featured speaker at the national AHA Scientific Meeting in Orlando, Florida in November 2009. His future research will focus on the roles of vitamin A in the development of metabolic diseases. Chen explores the mechanisms for how diet regulates the way we metabolize sugars and fats, particularly when the normal metabolism of these nutrients is disturbed. Chen has noticed that insulin, the body’s hormone that regulates blood sugar, acts in concert with vitamin A, an essential micronutrient that has traditionally been associated with night vision. Chen and his group found that vitamin A and its derivatives are responsible for regulating activities of enzymes involved in sugar and fat metabolism in liver cells.
Articles
Retinoids induced Pck1 expression and attenuated insulin-mediated suppression of its expression via activation of retinoic acid receptor in primary rat hepatocytes (with Y Zhang, R Li, W Chen, and Y Li), Molectular and Cellular Biochemistry (2011)
Insulin regulates the expression of genes involved in hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism, such as...
Retinoids synergized with insulin to induce Srebp-1c expression and activated its promoter via the two liver X receptor binding sites that mediate insulin action (with R Li, W Chen, Y Li, and Y Zhang), Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2011)
We have reported that the rat liver lipophilic extract (LE) synergized with insulin to induce...
Retinoids synergize with insulin to induce hepatic Gck expression., Nutrition Publications and Other Works (2009)
Hepatic GK (glucokinase) plays a key role in maintaining glucose homoeostasis. Many stimuli regulate GK...
Liver lipid molecules induce PEPCK-C gene transcription and attenuate insulin action., Nutrition Publications and Other Works (2007)
Cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C) plays key roles in gluconeogenesis, glyceroneogenesis, and cataplerosis. Experiments were designed...
Enzymatic reduction of oxysterols impairs LXR signaling in cultured cells and the livers of mice., Nutrition Publications and Other Works (2007)
Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that play crucial roles in lipid metabolism in...