Happy Thursdays with Sara & Vítor

Role of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in tanycytes in metabolism and aging

Tanycytes are ependymoglial cells lining the third ventricle in the hypothalamus that can modulate the flux of metabolic information between the periphery and the brain. In this study, we address how mTORC1 and mTORC2 complexes are implicated in the metabolic functions of these cells and how their deregulation has consequences in energy homeostasis and aging.

CV highlights: 

• 2015-2019:  Bachelor’s degree in Biology (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
• 2019-2020: Master's degree in Biomedical Research (Universidade Santiago de Compostela)

• 2020-present: PhD student in Endocrinology at the Molecular Metabolism Group in CiMUS

  Sara Martínez Martínez. PhD student, Molecular Metabolism Group (P0L2), CiMUS

A hypothalamus-liver-skeletal muscle axis controlled by JNK1 and FGF21 mediates olanzapine-induced insulin resistance in an intraperitoneal treatment in male mice

Olanzapine (OLA), a widely used and obesogenic and diabetogenic antipsychotic, administered via i.p. induces peripheral insulin resistance through a hypothalamus-liver axis controlled by hypothalamic JNK1 activation which, in turn, activates hepatic JNK via vagus nerve. This axis results in hepatic insulin resistance and in reduction of hepatic and circulating FGF21 that ultimately impairs insulin response in skeletal muscle.

CV highlights:

I am a biochemist and a master's in Health Sciences from the University of Minho (Portugal).  From 2017 to 2023, I did my PhD in Molecular Biosciences in Prof. Ángela M. Valverde's laboratory at the IIBm Sols-Morreale (Madrid, Spain) as part of the ITN-TREATMENT consortium with an MSCA scholarship. In my PhD project, we unravelled how hypothalamic signals could control/prevent the metabolic side-effects of Olanzapine. In 2024, I started as a Postdoc researcher in Prof. Miguel López's laboratory at CiMUS. Presently, I have a Juan de La Cierva post-doctoral contract to understand the mechanisms behind cancer-induced cachexia (CIC) and to test small extracellular vesicles as an innovative approach to treat CIC by targeting the hypothalamus.
 

Vítor Manuel da Silva Ferreira. Postdoc at the NeurObesity Group (P0L2), CiMUS. 

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