Welcome to the Bridges Lab

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We are interested in the factors which cause obesity, the mechanisms by which this happens and how interventions in this pathway can alleviate obesity or its associated diseases. Our group uses a variety of model systems including cell culture, yeast, flies and mice to understand the signaling and metabolic pathways which are involved in these processes. We then use modern molecular biology, genetic and pharmacological tools to manipulate and learn more about the physiology of obesity.

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Recent Publications

Elana Elkin, Dave Bridges, Sean Harris and Rita Loch-Caruso. Exposure to the trichloroethylene metabolite S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine causes compensatory changes to macronutrient utilization and energy metabolism in placental HTR-8/SVneo cells 2020. Chemical Research in Toxicology Full Text Details.
Scott Ochsner, David Abraham, Kirt Martin, Wei Ding, Apollo McOwiti, Wasula Kankanamge, Zichen Wang, Kaitlyn Andreano, Ross Hamilton, Yue Chen, Angelica Hamilton, Marin Gantner, Michael Dehart, Shijing Qu, Susan Hilsenbeck, Lauren Becnel, Dave Bridges, Avi Ma'ayan, Janice Huss, Fabio Stossi, Charles Foulds, Anastasia Kralli, Donald McDonnell and Neil McKenna. The Signaling Pathways Project, an integrated 'omics knowledgebase for mammalian cellular signaling pathways 2019. Scientific Data 6(1):252 Full Text Details.
Elana Elkin, Dave Bridges and Rita Loch-Caruso. The trichloroethylene metabolite S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine induces progressive mitochondrial dysfunction in HTR-8/SVneo trophoblasts 2019. Toxicology 427(July):152283 Full Text Details.
Erin Stephenson, JeAnna Redd, Detrick Snyder, Quynh Tran, Binbin Lu, Matthew Peloquin, Molly Mulcahy, Innocence Harvey, Kaleigh Fisher, Joan Han, Nathan Qi, Alan Saltiel and Dave Bridges. Skeletal Muscle mTORC1 Activation Increases Energy Expenditure and Reduces Longevity in Mice 2019. bioRxiv Full Text Details. Preprint
Dubek Kazyken, Brian Magnuson, Cagri Bodur, Hugo Acosta-Jaquez, Deqiang Zhang, Xin Tong, Tammy Barnes, Gabrielle Steinl, Nicole Patterson, Christopher Altheim, Naveen Sharma, Ken Inoki, Gregory Cartee, Dave Bridges, Lei Yin and Diane Fingar. AMPK directly activates mTORC2 to promote cell survival during acute energetic stress 2019. Science Signaling 11(12):585 Full Text Details.
John Bissler, Fahad Zadjali, Dave Bridges, Aristotelis Astrindis, Sharon Barone, Ying Yao, JeAnna Redd, Brian Siroky, Yanqing Wang, Joel Finley, Michael Rusniak, Heinz Baumann, Kamyar Zahedi, Kenneth Gross and Manoocher Soleimani. Tuberous sclerosis complex exhibits a new renal cystogenic mechanism. 2019. Physiological Reports 7(2):e13983 Full Text Details.
Liam McAllan, Kristen Maynard, Alisha Kardian, Amanda Stayton, Shelby Fox, Erin Stephenson, Clint Kinney, Noor Alshibli, Charles Gomes, Joseph Pierre, Michelle Puchowicz, Dave Bridges, Keri Martinowich and Joan Han. Disruption of brain-derived neurotrophic factor production from individual promoters generates distinct body composition phenotypes in mice 2018. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism 315(6):E1168-E1184 Full Text Details.
Matthew Wilson, Amanda Sen, Dave Bridges, D. Turgeon, Dean Brenner, William Smith, Mack Ruffin and Zora Djuric. Higher baseline expression of the PTGS2 gene and greater decreases in total colonic fatty acid content predict greater decreases in colonic prostaglandin-E2 concentrations after dietary supplementation with w-3 fatty acids 2018. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids Full Text Details.
Qingming Dong, Michael Keufner, Xiong Deng, Dave Bridges, Edwards Park, Marshal Elam and Rajendra Raghow. Sex-specific differences in hepatic steatosis in obese spontaneously hypertensive (SHROB) rats. 2018. Biology of Sex Differences 9(1):40 Full Text Details.
Innocence Harvey, Erin Stephenson, JeAnna Redd, Quynh Tran, Irit Hochberg, Nathan Qi and Dave Bridges. Glucocorticoid-Induced Metabolic Disturbances are Exacerbated in Obese Male Mice. 2018. Endocrinology 159(6):1-13 Full Text Details.

Journal Club Papers

February 2020 Journal Club Articles

  • McCleary-Gaddy AT, Miller CT, Grover KW, Hodge JJ, Major B. Weight Stigma and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical Axis Reactivity in Individuals Who Are Overweight. Ann Behav Med 53: 392–398, 2019. 10.1093/abm/kay042. Discussed on Feb. 14, 2020
  • Hollenbach JP, Kuo CL, Mu J, Gerrard M, Gherlone N, Sylvester F, Ojukwu M, Cloutier MM. Hair cortisol, perceived stress, and social support in mother–child dyads living in an urban neighborhood. Stress 22: 632–639, 2019. 10.1080/10253890.2019.1604667. Discussed on Feb. 14, 2020
  • Curtis PJ, Van Der Velpen V, Berends L, Jennings A, Feelisch M, Umpleby AM, Evans M, Fernandez BO, Meiss MS, Minnion M, Potter J, Minihane AM, Kay CD, Rimm EB, Cassidy A. Blueberries improve biomarkers of cardiometabolic function in participants with metabolic syndrome-results from a 6-month, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 109: 1535–1545, 2019. 10.1093/ajcn/nqy380. Discussed on Feb. 14, 2020
  • Liko D, Rzepiela A, Vukojevic V, Zavolan M, Hall MN. Loss of TSC complex enhances gluconeogenesis via upregulation of Dlk1-Dio3 locus miRNAs . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2020). 10.1073/pnas.1918931117. Discussed on Feb. 7, 2020
  • Timmers S, De Vogel-Van Den Bosch J, De Wit N, Schaart G, Van Beurden D, Hesselink M, Van Der Meer R, Schrauwen P. Differential effects of saturated versus unsaturated dietary fatty acids on weight gain and myocellular lipid profiles in mice. Nutr Diabetes 1: e11-9, 2011. 10.1038/nutd.2011.7. Discussed on Feb. 7, 2020

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