CCMN / NPP Lecture Series - Dr Zackary Knight, University of California San Francisco
In vivo imaging of brainstem neurons in response to nutrient intake
CCMN / NPP Lecture Series - Dr Zackary Knight, University of California San Francisco
04 Dec 2024, 13:00 – 14:00
CCMN are really excited to host Dr Zack Knight from University of California San Francisco on 4th December at 13:00 as part of our CCMN/NPP lecture series. Zack is an HHMI investigator, and has made major contributions to our understanding of appetite circuitry and will be speaking about his most recent work on in vivo imaging of brainstem neurons in response to nutrient intake.
Below is Zack’s Bio:
‘Zachary Knight is investigating the neural mechanisms that govern hunger, thirst, and body temperature. Knight wants to understand how the brain senses the body’s physical needs and transforms that information into behavior. Knight and his team have discovered that homeostatic neurons, such as those for hunger and thirst, are not just passive sensors of internal state, but also gather sensory information from the outside world. Now, the team wants to know how these neurons integrate this information to predict impending physiological changes and preemptively adjust goal-directed behaviors.’
Some recent relevant papers:
— Ly, T., Oh, J. Y., Sivakumar, N., Shehata, S., La Santa Medina, N., Huang, H., Liu, Z., Fang, W., Barnes, C., Dundar, N., Jarvie, B. C., Ravi, A., Barnhill, O. K., Li, C., Lee, G. R., Choi, J., Jang, H., & Knight, Z. A. (2023). Sequential appetite suppression by oral and visceral feedback to the brainstem. Nature, 1–8. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06758-2
— Bai, L., Sivakumar, N., Yu, S., Sheyda Mesgarzadeh, Ding, T., Ly, T., Corpuz, T. V., Grove, J., Jarvie, B. C., & Knight, Z. A. (2022). Enteroendocrine cell types that drive food reward and aversion. ELife, 11. doi:10.7554/elife.74964
— Grove, J. C. R., Gray, L. A., La Santa Medina, N., Sivakumar, N., Ahn, J. S., Corpuz, T. V., Berke, J. D., Kreitzer, A. C., & Knight, Z. A. (2022). Dopamine subsystems that track internal states. Nature, 608(7922), 374–380. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04954-0
— Beutler LR, Corpuz TV, Ahn JS, Kosar S, Song W, Chen Y, Knight ZA (2020). Obesity causes selective and long-lasting desensitization of AgRP neurons to dietary fat. eLife 9: e55909. doi:10.7554/elife.55909
Zachary received his B.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCSF. During his Ph.D. research in the lab of Kevan Shokat, Zachary discovered some of the first selective inhibitors of PI3-kinase and mTOR. In 2007, Zachary co-founded Intellikine to develop these compounds into drugs, which led to the development and approval of duvelisib for the treatment of cancer. Zachary then switched fields from chemistry to physiology and performed postdoctoral research in the lab of Jeffrey Friedman at Rockefeller University, where he developed genetic methods for identifying neural cell types in the mouse brain.
Zachary returned to UCSF in 2012 to start his independent research group investigating the neurobiology of homeostasis. His lab is recognized for performing the first neural recordings of many of the key cell types in the brain that control homeostasis, including neurons for hunger (AgRP neurons), satiety (POMC, GCG, and PRLH neurons), thirst (SFO neurons) and body temperature (PACAP neurons). These experiments led to the general discovery that homeostatic neurons in the hypothalamus and brainstem – long thought to function primarily by reacting to physiologic imbalances – instead utilize sensory cues from the outside world to anticipate physiologic changes and adjust behavior preemptively. This has transformed our understanding of how the brain controls hunger and thirst.
Zachary's work has been recognized by awards from the Sloan, McKnight, Rita Allen, Klingenstein, and Brain and Behavior Research Foundations; the Robertson Investigator Award from the New York Stem Cell Foundation; the New Innovator, Pathway to Independence, and PECASE Awards from the National Institutes of Health; the Pathway Award from the American Diabetes Association; and the Helmholtz Young Investigator in Diabetes Award. In 2018, he was named an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Further information
Ticketing
Open
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes