Jiandie Lin

Our Research

Our laboratory investigates the mechanisms that regulate nutrient and energy metabolism in cells, tissues, and organisms. We focus on elucidating how the metabolic properties of tissues are specified during development and reprogrammed in disease, dissecting the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of metabolic regulation, and discovering novel secreted factors in systemic metabolic crosstalk.

About Jiandie Lin

  • Obesity-associated metabolic disease
  • Signaling and gene transcription
  • Metabolic tissue development

Jiandie Lin studies the signaling networks that control the storage and utilization of energy in cells and organisms, and how they contribute to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Highlight: Lift weights to lower blood sugar?

Jiandie Lin's new research has challenged a long-held belief that whitening of skeletal muscle in diabetes is harmful. In fact, it helps keep blood sugar in check.

White muscle is good at providing short, intense bursts of energy. Because its increases in the bodies of people with diabetes, the red-to-white muscle shift was thought to make muscle less responsive to insulin. However, Lin's research indicates that obese mice with BAF60c transgene were much better at controlling blood glucose. If the BAF60c pathway is indeed the way in which cells form white muscle and in turn optimize metabolic function, it may be a promising drug target.

Recent Publications

Zhao XY, Li S, Wang GX, Yu Q, Lin JD (2014) A long noncoding RNA transcriptional regulatory circuit drives thermogenic adipocyte differentiation. Mol. Cell [Epub ahead of print]

Meng Z, Li S, Ko HJ, Lee Y, Okutsu M, Yan Z, Kim JK, Lin JD (2013) BAF60c drives glycolytic muscle formation and improves glucose homeostasis through Deptor-mediated AKT activation. Nat. Med. 19:640-645.