William
L. Lowe Jr., PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
To Contact Dr. Lowe:
phone: 312-503-2539
e-mail: wlowe@northwestern.edu
Dr. Lowe's website
Research Interests
Dr. Lowe's laboratory has three areas of interest.
(1) To help elucidate the mechanism for the increased incidence of atherosclerosis
in patients with diabetes, my laboratory is investigating the effect of glucose
on vascular cell function. The ability of glucose to activate signal transduction
pathways and the role of those signaling pathways in vascular cell migration
and proliferation are being examined. Special emphasis is being placed on
glucose-induced activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs).
An additional goal of these studies is to identify glucose-regulated genes
in vascular cells and define the role of the glucose-activated signaling pathways
in modulating expression of these genes.
(2) Type 2 diabetes is a complex disorder secondary to changes in insulin
secretion and sensitivity. Patient populations with a probable defect in insulin
secretion are being recruited for genetic studies to facilitate identification
of susceptibility genes for type 2 diabetes. Both candidate gene and linkage
analyses will be used to address this problem. Potential candidate genes important
for insulin secretion are being sequenced to identify polymorphisms that may
alter protein function and increase susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.
(3) His laboratory has a longstanding interest in the regulation of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) gene expression. A function of IGF-I is to mediate the growth-promoting effects of growth hormone, although little is known about the molecular mechanisms by which growth hormone regulates IGF-I gene expression. Model systems employing hepatocytes in primary culture are being used to address this important question.