Amy
Hauck
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
Signal-dependent, rhythmic transcription of metabolic pathways is essential for maintaining physiological homeostasis, and the disruption of these signaling networks is a strong driver of metabolic disease. Our research is focused on how metabolic signals are integrated within the nucleus by a family of transcription factors called nuclear receptors (NRs) and their coregulators to coordinate gene expression patterns, with an emphasis on how derangements in NR signaling and function contribute to metabolic disease.
Research statement
Nuclear receptors (NRs) are potent, signal-dependent transcriptional regulators critical for maintaining metabolic flexibility at the cell, tissue, and systems levels. Disrupted NR activity is implicated in metabolic dysfunction and contributes to the prevalence and progression of diseases including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and Type II Diabetes. We seek to interrogate the mechanisms that dictate and differentiate between distinct activities of NRs in tissue- and disease-specific conditions with the ultimate goal of being able to better modulate NR function to combat metabolic disease.
In the Hauck lab, we use an integrated multi-omic approach and novel mouse models to explore the signals and coregulators that determine NR function and genomic occupancy and to identify the enzymatic mechanisms upon which they rely for signal-dependent chromatin remodeling and transcriptional regulation.
Selected research
Hauck AK, Mehmood R, Carpenter BJ, Frankfurter MT, Tackenberg MC, Inoue S, Krieg MK, Cassim Bawa FN, Midha MK, Zunder DM, Batmanov K, Lazar MA. Nuclear receptor corepressors non-canonically drive glucocorticoid receptor-dependent activation of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Nat Metal 2024 May; 6(5):825-836. PMCID11459266
Richter HJ, Hauck AK, Batmanov K, Inoue S, So BN, Kim M, Emmett MJ, Cohen RN, Lazar MA. Balanced Control of Thermogenesis by Nuclear Receptor Corepressors in Brown Adipose Tissue. PNAS 2022 Aug; 119(33). PMCID: PMC9388101.
Nguyen H CB, Adlanmerini M, Hauck AK, Lazar MA. Dichotomous engagement of HDAC3 activity governs inflammatory responses. Nature 2020 Aug; 584(7820):286-290. PMCID: PMC7725280
Education and background
Postdoctoral Fellow - University of Pennsylvania, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism
PhD in Biochemistry (BMBB) - University of Minnesota, 2017
BA in Biology - University of San Diego (2010)