![MAF1 Function and Metabolic Inefficiency]()
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded Ian Willis, Ph.D., a four-year, $2.1 million grant to study the MAF1 protein and determine how gene expression and energy expenditure is changed in Maf1 knockout mice. MAF1 is best known as a master regulator of RNA polymerase III, the enzyme responsible for synthesizing ~15% of the RNA in virtually every cell in the body. Maf1 knockout mice are lean, resistant to diet-induced obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and have increased energy expenditure along with an extended lifespan—changes that are likely due to increased RNA polymerase III transcription, which requires energetically expensive ribonucleotides. Dr. Willis and his team will examine changes in gene expression in key metabolic tissues of Maf1 knockout mice, determine the metabolic changes underlying their increased energy expenditure and investigate RNA polymerase III’s role in driving this energy expenditure. Dr. Willis is professor of biochemistry and systems & computational biology. (1R01GM120358-01)
Posted on: Thursday, December 08, 2016