Funai Lab

Research focus

NIH R01 · 2024

Lands cycle and skeletal muscle insulin action

Project Summary Skeletal muscle insulin resistance is an early and fundamental defect in the development of type 2 diabetes. Molecular mechanisms by which obesity promotes muscle insulin resistance remain incompletely understood, but multiple lines of evidence suggest aberrant lipid metabolism as a likely contributor. Recently, our laboratory published findings that accelerated lyso-phospholipid metabolism (Lands cycle) desensitizes skeletal muscle insulin receptor to promote diabetes. In humans, obesity increased skeletal muscle lyso-phosphatidylcholine (lyso-PC) acyltransferase-3 (LPCAT3) and decreased lyso-PC concomitant to a decrease in insulin sensitivity. In mice, genetic or…

From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.