Rajat Singh, M.D., M.B., B.S.
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine (Endocrinology)
Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Pharmacology
Dr. Singh and colleagues demonstrated a role for autophagy in mobilization and
degradation of intracellular lipid stores by a process we termed lipophagy, thus
mapping autophagy to metabolic regulation. They have recently shown that lipophagy in
hypothalamic neurons generates neuron-intrinsic free fatty acids that drive neuronal
feeding mechanisms. The primary research focus of Dr. Singh's laboratory is to examine
the organ-specific roles of autophagy in the regulation of lipid metabolism and energy/
glucose homeostasis using biochemical, immunohisto- chemical, and image-based
approaches in vitro and in conditional knockout mouse models. The second research focus
is to examine the consequences of aging-associated reduction of autophagy on the
development of the metabolic syndrome of aging. Dr. Singh's long-term goals are to
understand how to activate autophagy to prevent diabetes and improve the health span in
the aging population. full bio>>
Key Publications
- Kaushik S, Rodriguez-Navarro, JA, Arias E, Kiffin R, Sahu S, Schwartz
GJ, Cuervo AM, Singh R. Autophagy in hypothalamic AgRP neurons regulates food intake and energy balance. Cell Metabolism 2011; 14: 173-183.
- Kaushik S, Arias E, Kwon H, Martinez-Lopez N, Sahu S, Schwartz GJ,
Pessin JE, Singh R. Loss of autophagy in hypothalamic POMC neurons impairs lipolysis.
EMBO Reports 2012; 13(3): 258-65.
- Martinez-Lopez N, Athonvarangkul D, Sahu S, Coletto L, Zong H, Bastie
CC, Pessin JE, Schwartz GJ, Singh R. Autophagy in Myf5+ progenitors regulates energy and glucose homeostasis through control of brown fat and skeletal muscle
development. EMBO Reports 2013; 14(9): 795-803.
- Martinez-Lopez N, Athonvarangkul D, Mishall P, Sahu S, Singh R.
Autophagy proteins regulate ERK phosphorylation. Nature Communications 2013; 4: 2799.
- Martinez-Lopez N, Singh R.
Autophagy and lipid droplets in the liver. Annual Reviews of Nutrition
Funding
- Ellison Medical Foundation
08/01/2012-07/31/2016
New Scholar Award $92,593
Hypothalamic autophagy and the metabolic syndrome of aging
To examine how MA links signals of nutrient availability to energy expenditure.
- 5R01AG043517-02
04/01/2013-03/31/18
NIH/NIA $205,000
Hypothalamic autophagy and metabolic regulation in aging
The metabolic syndrome is a significant health problem effecting greater than 44% of the U.S. population more than 50 years of age. These studies will be critical to the development of new therapeutic strategies against the metabolic syndrome of aging.
- 2P01AG031782-06A1
09/15/2014-04/30/2019
NIH/NIA $1,499,040
Functional Consequences of Impaired Autophagy in Aging
Project 4 Leader: Singh