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Mengwei Zang, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

The Ewing Halsell Distinguished Chair

Associate Director - MD/PhD Program, UT Health San Antonio

Currently seeking M.S. & Ph.D. students

Dr. Mengwei Zang is a faculty member in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging as well as the Department of Molecular Medicine. The Zang lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying obesity, diabetes and chronic liver disease related to aging.

Zang lab seeks to develop new therapeutic strategies for obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease by building a better understanding of molecular mechanisms of nutrient sensing network. Studies from Zang laboratory have identified several nutrient sensors, such as AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the NAD-dependent deacetylase (SIRT1), mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), and the hepatocyte-derived hormone FGF21. Dysregulation of AMPK or SIRT1 signaling appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease and adipose tissue fibrosis in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Zang Lab has also elucidated AMPK-dependent inhibition of de novo lipogenesis as a molecular mechanism for the beneficial effects of metformin, the most widely prescribed type 2 diabetes drugs, and polyphenols, on hepatic steatosis, hyperlipidemia, and atherogenesis in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Further studies demonstrated that SIRT1 is functionally linked to FGF21 and the regulation of fatty acid metabolism, providing major therapeutic targets for the treatment of fatty liver disease. These important findings were published in high impact journals such as Cell Metabolism, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Diabetes.

Zang Lab’s research utilizes a variety of biochemical, cellular biology, metabolic and screening approaches both in cell culture and whole animals to identify the molecular mechanisms by which mammalian cells sense, communicate, and respond to nutrients. The ultimate goal is to provide new insight into the pathological mechanisms of diabetes and obesity as well as to identify potential therapeutic interventions of metabolic disease and age-associated metabolic diseases.

 

Other profile: See more at: https://barshopinstitute.uthscsa.edu/team-member/zang-mengwei/

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