Page 87 - MEMOCiberdem014-ENG

Most relevant scientific articles
• Fernández-Pérez a., ValleJo m. Pdx1 and USF transcription factors co-ordinately regulate Alx3 gene ex- pression in pancreatic β-cells . Biochemical Journal . 2014;463:287-296 .
Highlights
Institution: Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Contact: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (CSIC) C/ Arturo Duperier 4. 28029 Madrid. Phone: (+34) 91 585 44 80 · E.mail: [email protected] Website: http://www .iib .uam .es/portal/web/guest/investigacion/grupos
During 2014 we have discovered a mechanism by which Alx3 regulates glucagon gene expression in response to changes in glucose concentration . When glucose levels are high pancreatic glucagon secretion is inhibited, and our data indicate that its synthesis also decreases by an inhibitory mechanism that operates at the transcriptional level . Glucose induces the expression of Alx3 in pancreatic alpha cells, which promotes its interaction with the transcription factor Pax6, preventing the binding of Pax6 to one of the regulatory elements of the glucagon promoter . This mechanism may have implications in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, as this disease may evolve with abnormally high levels of glucagon (Mirasierra M, Vallejo M: . Glucose-dependent inhibition of glucagon gene expression regulated by selective interactions between Alx3 and Pax6 . Submitted) .
Regarding studies on metabolic regulation, we found that Alx3 is expressed in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, and is involved in the regulation of food intake and energy metabolism . Some of these studies have been performed in collaboration with the group led by Dr . Sebastian Cerdán (Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols, CSIC), which allowed the evaluation of glucose detection in the hypothalamus using functional magnetic resonance imaging (Lizarbe B, Fernández-Pérez A, Caz V, López-Larrubia P, Vallejo M, Cerdan S: Glucose sensing in the fasted mouse hypothalamus as detected by functional MRI methods An integrative approach . Submitted) .
Finally, our group oversees the management of the Indirect Calorimetry and Energy Metabolism Unit (UCIME), which provides the use of a Phenomaster system (TSE Systems) as a technology platform provided by Ciberdem for evaluating energy metabolism in rodents .
www .ciberdem .org 87