DGATs: from steatosis to thermogenesis

Guest lecture by professor Victor Zammit, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

Professor Zammit got his PhD in 1975 from Oxford University under the supervision of Prof Eric Newsholme. After a period of post-doctoral training at Oxford, he went to the Hannah Research Institute (part of the University of Glasgow) in 1978.

In 2004 he moved to Warwick University Medical School as professor of metabolic biochemistry, and was director of the Clinical Sciences Research Institute till 2015.​ He is now Head of Metabolic and Vascular Health at the Division of Translational and Systems Medicine.

Research interests

The overall research interest of the laboratory is the regulation of fatty acid metabolism in health and disease, with particular emphasis on the changes related to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes.

Specific interests include:

  • The role of fatty acids in the control of insulin secretion, and disruption of insulin signalling. Structure-function relationships of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT 1) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase 2 (ACC-2) with particular reference to the role of malonyl-CoA in the regulation of the intracellular content of long-chain acyl-CoA esters and products of their metabolism to complex lipids, in relation to the aetiology of insulin resistance and apoptosis.
  • The role of different diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs)  in the control, and cellular trafficking, of triacylglycerol in lipoprotein-secretory tissues.
  • The effects on acute hepatic insulin sensitivity of recurrent high-glycaemic intake.
Published May 30, 2016 9:37 AM - Last modified May 30, 2016 9:37 AM