Dhananjay (Jay) Gupta, Ph.D., M.S.

Responsibilities & Activities

Tissue-derived factors have been critical component of interorgan communication and tissue crosstalk, both as facilitator of the adaptive metabolic homeostasis as well as effectors of metabolic dysfunctions. As a Program Director, I oversee the research program focused on basic and preclinical research in mature adipocytes and between the myriad of cells making up different fat tissue depots of rodent and human systems. The central theme of my research portfolio is to elucidate the intracellular signaling pathways that regulate cellular responses to nutrient sensing (either over-nutrition or restriction) in adipose tissue. The scope of my research portfolio encompasses key elements regulating adipocyte biology:

1. Mechanistic studies addressing integrated roles of extracellular signals (such as insulin) and nutrients (e.g. glucose, amino acids, lipids; peptides)
2. Signaling cascades that regulate key functions of fat tissue including adipokine synthesis and secretion, lipogenesis, lipolysis and lipid droplet biogenesis
3. Mechanistic pathways of adipose tissue turnover (transcriptional regulation, post-translational modifications, and cytoplasmic or secretory responses)
4. Regulation of gene transcription programs for browning or beiging of adipose, cell or organ-based mechanisms of cold or autonomic activation of BAT, and interrogation of functional or phenotypic differences between fat depots
5. Elucidation of the cellular mechanisms regulating how adipose depot secreted signals, including exosomes, impact the array of adipose tissue cell types

Committees & Working Groups

• NIDDK Obesity Research Working Group, Member
• NIDDK Neuroscience of Obesity Working Group, Member
• NIDDK Pancreas Working Group, Member
• NIDDK Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) Working Group, Member