Morris J. Birnbaum, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Department: Medicine
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
322 Clinical Research Building
415 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
415 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: (215) 898-5001
Fax: (215) 573-9138
Fax: (215) 573-9138
Email:
birnbaum@mail.med.upenn.edu
birnbaum@mail.med.upenn.edu
Publications
Education:
A.B.
Brown University, 1973.
Ph.D. (Physiological Chemistry)
Brown University, 1977.
M.D.
Brown University, 1978.
Permanent linkA.B.
Brown University, 1973.
Ph.D. (Physiological Chemistry)
Brown University, 1977.
M.D.
Brown University, 1978.
Description of Research Expertise
Research InterestsThe regulation of growth and metabolism
Key words: Insulin, growth, Akt/PKB, diabetes, drosophila, metabolism, glucose transport, membrane protein trafficking, signal transduction.
Description of Research
The ability to respond to nutritional stress is one of the most primitive adaptations that organism must accomplish. The pathways that alert the organism to an absence of food and initiate an appropriate response are remarkably well-conserved and involve such critical signaling molecules as the protein kinases Akt and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) as well as nutrient sensors such as the carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP).
The Birnbaum lab studies this complex biological response in two contexts: the initiation of cell growth after a transition from nutritional deprivation to abundance and the insulin-dependent redistribution of simple substrates into long-term energy stores. The latter process involves a number of distinct but interacting components such as glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, and the insulin-dependent acceleration of hepatic lipid synthesis and glucose uptake into adipocytes and muscle. Two aspects of the regulation of glucose transport by insulin, both of which are studied in the Birnbaum lab, are the way in which insulin regulates the movement of hormone-sensitive Glut4 glucose transporter from the inside of the cell to the plasma membrane, and the signaling pathway by which insulin accomplishes this. There are also a number of projects underway aimed at understanding how the evolutionarily conserved sensor of nutritional stress, AMP-activated protein kinase, regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism. These fundamental biological problems are addressed using experiments performed in tissue culture cells, mice and the genetically tractable organism Drosophila melanogaster.
Rotation projects for 2006-2007
Please contact Dr. Birnbaum for projects.
Lab personnel:
Michelle Bland, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Abby Dean, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Sarah Choi, Graduate student,
Danielle Gross, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Karla Leavens, Graduate Student,
Mingjian Lu, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Russell Miller, Postdoctoral Fellow,
David Tucker, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Min Wan, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Bob Monks, Research Assistant,
Qingwei Chu, Research Assistant,
Maureen Victoria, Research Assistant,
Cass Lutz, Administrator
Selected Publications
Balu Darrick T, Carlson Gregory C, Talbot Konrad, Kazi Hala, Hill-Smith Tiffany E, Easton Rachel M, Birnbaum Morris J, Lucki Irwin: Akt1 deficiency in schizophrenia and impairment of hippocampal plasticity and function. Hippocampus 22(2): 230-40, Feb 2012.Wan Min, Easton Rachael M, Gleason Catherine E, Monks Bobby R, Ueki Kohjiro, Kahn C Ronald, Birnbaum Morris J: Loss of Akt1 in mice increases energy expenditure and protects against diet-induced obesity. Molecular and cellular biology 32(1): 96-106, Jan 2012.
Chatterjee Shampa, Browning Elizabeth A, Hong Nankang, Debolt Kris, Sorokina Elena M, Liu Weidong, Birnbaum Morris J, Fisher Aron B: Membrane depolarization is the trigger for PI3K/Akt activation and leads to the generation of ROS. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 302(1): H105-14, Jan 2012.
Wan Min, Leavens Karla F, Saleh Danish, Easton Rachael M, Guertin David A, Peterson Timothy R, Kaestner Klaus H, Sabatini David M, Birnbaum Morris J: Postprandial hepatic lipid metabolism requires signaling through Akt2 independent of the transcription factors FoxA2, FoxO1, and SREBP1c. Cell metabolism 14(4): 516-27, Oct 2011.
Miller Russell A, Chu Qingwei, Le Lay John, Scherer Philipp E, Ahima Rexford S, Kaestner Klaus H, Foretz Marc, Viollet Benoit, Birnbaum Morris J: Adiponectin suppresses gluconeogenic gene expression in mouse hepatocytes independent of LKB1-AMPK signaling. The Journal of clinical investigation 121(6): 2518-28, Jun 2011.
Tokuda Satoko, Mahaffey Connie L, Monks Bobby, Faulkner Christian R, Birnbaum Morris J, Danzer Steve C, Frankel Wayne N: A novel Akt3 mutation associated with enhanced kinase activity and seizure susceptibility in mice. Human molecular genetics 20(5): 988-99, Mar 2011.
Holland William L, Miller Russell A, Wang Zhao V, Sun Kai, Barth Brian M, Bui Hai H, Davis Kathryn E, Bikman Benjamin T, Halberg Nils, Rutkowski Joseph M, Wade Mark R, Tenorio Vincent M, Kuo Ming-Shang, Brozinick Joseph T, Zhang Bei B, Birnbaum Morris J, Summers Scott A, Scherer Philipp E: Receptor-mediated activation of ceramidase activity initiates the pleiotropic actions of adiponectin. Nature medicine 17(1): 55-63, Jan 2011.
Galicia Vivian A, He Lina, Dang Hien, Kanel Gary, Vendryes Christopher, French Barbara A, Zeng Ni, Bayan Jennifer-Ann, Ding Wei, Wang Kasper S, French Samuel, Birnbaum Morris J, Rountree C Bart, Stiles Bangyan L: Expansion of hepatic tumor progenitor cells in Pten-null mice requires liver injury and is reversed by loss of AKT2. Gastroenterology 139(6): 2170-82, Dec 2010.
Liu Jiangying, Wang You, Birnbaum Morris J, Stoffers Doris A: Three-amino-acid-loop-extension homeodomain factor Meis3 regulates cell survival via PDK1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107(47): 20494-9, Nov 2010.
Choi Sarah M, Tucker David F, Gross Danielle N, Easton Rachael M, DiPilato Lisa M, Dean Abigail S, Monks Bob R, Birnbaum Morris J: Insulin regulates adipocyte lipolysis via an Akt-independent signaling pathway. Molecular and cellular biology 30(21): 5009-20, Nov 2010.