Faculty
Research Areas
Interoception, neuronal regulation of energy balance, and neuronal lipid homeostasis
Research Details
Adaptation to changing metabolic demands is essential for survival. Neurons connecting organ systems enable the body to respond to major physiological changes by sensing and relaying information to the brain. We aim to understand how somatosensory and sympathetic neuron networks regulate systemic energy metabolism, using a multidisciplinary approach that integrates imaging, biochemistry, and genetics.
Adipose tissue is a central regulator of systemic metabolism and the body’s primary site for lipid storage. It is distributed across multiple anatomical depots and exhibits remarkable adaptability, responding dynamically to metabolic stress, nutrient excess, injury, and disease. Beyond energy storage, adipose tissue plays diverse roles in endocrine signaling and whole-body metabolic homeostasis. Adipose tissue is extensively innervated by sympathetic and sensory neurons, which provide critical neural input that shapes its function. Our research seeks to understand how peripheral neural circuits regulate adipose tissue remodeling and, in turn, influence systemic energy metabolism in both physiological and pathological states.
Neurons are highly polarized cells whose axons can extend from a few millimeters to over a meter from the cell body. Their ability to remain electrically active, sense environmental and internal stimuli, and transmit information depends on the precise transport of cellular components between the cell body and distant axonal sites. Organelles such as lysosomes play a central role in this process by maintaining cellular quality control and metabolic balance, functions that are closely linked to lipid homeostasis. Our research seeks to define the mechanisms that regulate lysosomal dynamics in sensory neurons and to understand how lipid metabolism supports lysosomal function. Because lysosomal dysfunction is causally linked to neuronal injury and disease, elucidating these mechanisms may provide insight into how metabolic disturbances impair neuronal function.
