Pere Puigserver
Department of Cell Biology
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Center for Life Sciences, 11-114
3 Blackfan Circle
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: 617-582-7745
Email: pere_puigserver@dfci.harvard.edu
5 postdoctoral fellows, 4 graduate students
Our research interests are on the genetic and biochemical mechanisms underlying the control of intermediary metabolism by nutrients and hormonal signals in mammals. The precise organization and regulation of these metabolic pathways in response to these signals are essential to maintain nutrient and energy homeostasis. Defects in this control will lead to important metabolic abnormalities detected in cancer, aging, diabetes and obesity. The ultimate goal of our research is to understand the coordination, activities and assembly of these biochemical processes and to lay the foundation of new therapies for metabolic diseases, age-associated diseases and cancer.
Our lab focuses on an important biological question: How nutrient and hormonal signals are sensed to control energy and nutrient metabolism in mammals. We study how changes in these signals are sensed and provoke transcriptional responses that induce expression of gene sets linked to energy and nutrient metabolic pathways. We are using mammalian cells as biological models to identify and analyze these signals, transcriptional components, metabolic gene expression and function. Moreover, we systematically analyze the significance of these findings in the energy and nutrient metabolic context of the whole organism in mouse models. We have concentrated in how transcriptional components of the PGC-1 pathway such as SIRT1 and GCN5 sense nutrient and energy signals to control glucose and lipid metabolism. We are in the process of identifying novel components of this regulatory system by using biochemical, genetic, pharmacological and systems biology approaches.
References:
- J.T. Rodgers, C. Lerin, W. Haas, S.P. Gygi, B.M. Spiegelman and P. Puigserver. Nutrient Control of Gluconeogenesis Through PGC-1a/SIRT1 Deacetylase Complex. Nature. 434:113-8, 2005.
- Z. Gerhart-Hines, J.T. Rodgers, O. Bare, C. Lerin, S.H. Kim, R. Mostoslavsky, F.W. Alt, Z. Wu and P. Puigserver. Metabolic Control of Mitochondrial Function and Fatty Acid Oxidation Through PGC-1alpha/SIRT1. EMBO J. 2007 26, 1913-1923.
- J.T. Cunningham, J.T. Rodgers, D. Arlow, F. Vazquez, V.K. Mootha and P. Puigserver. The mTOR nutrient pathway controls mitochondrial gene expression and oxidative function through the YY1/PGC-1α transcriptional complex. Nature. 2007 Nov 29;450(7170):736-40.
- J.T. Rodgers, W. Haas, S.P. Gygi, and P. Puigserver. Cdc2-like Kinase 2 is an insulin regulated suppressor of Hepatic Gluconeogenesis. Cell Metabolism, 2010 11(1), 23-34
BBS webpage updated 5/15/2010