“Role of Brain Fibroblast Growth Factor Signaling in the Regulation of Energy Homeostasis”

Friday, October 31
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
SLU Orin Smith Auditorium & Zoom Webinar

Abstract

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are growing health epidemics that constitute a costly health care burden and increase the risk of several other life-threatening conditions (e.g., cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, blindness, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis). In this context, the efficacy of so called ‘incretin-mimetic’ drugs, which rely on actions in the CNS to mediate therapeutic benefit, is unquestionably impressive. As these effects result from durable, supraphysiological agonism of GLP-1 receptors (and receptors for other incretin peptides) throughout the body, however, the underlying mechanism can be viewed as relatively non-specific in the sense that 1) the specific neuronal targets are largely unknown, and hence 2) the potential for side effects is significant. Combined with evidence that lost weight and elevated hemoglobin A1C are rapidly recovered should the drugs be discontinued, the need for a more specific, mechanistic understanding of the neurocircuitry involved in metabolic homeostasis is apparent – particularly, if it can inform more efficacious, durable, and specific treatment strategies. This presentation will highlight ongoing studies investigating the physiological, cellular, and molecular roles of signaling by members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family in the brain and evidence that these compounds may serve as candidates for the development of new and novel therapeutics to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Biography

Jarrad Scarlett is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Washington and a Principal Investigator at the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute. He also serves as an Associate Program Director and Director of the Research Track for the pediatric residency program at UW and Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Scarlett’s research program focuses on the role of integrated gut-brain signaling in the control of energy balance and glucose metabolism and characterizing how defects in these systems contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes and obesity. To address this question, his laboratory combines metabolic phenotyping with advanced neuroscience techniques including both chemo- and opto-genetic studies and fiber photometry study the specific central neurocircuits, gut-brain signaling pathways, and peripheral effector mechanisms that are impacted by diabetes and obesity and identify therapeutic agents that can specifically target these defects.