Department of Internal Medicine
Endocrine-Metabolism Faculty
Medical School:
The University of Iowa
Residency:
University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center
Fellowship:
University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center
Christopher M. Adams, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Our laboratory is focused on skeletal muscle atrophy. Although skeletal muscle atrophy is very common and serious, its molecular mechanisms are complex and not well understood, and a pharmacologic therapy does not exist. To better understand mechanisms of muscle atrophy, we are investigating stress-induced mechanisms that alter skeletal muscle gene expression and promote muscle atrophy. We are also searching for a therapy for muscle atrophy. To this end, we recently determined mRNA expression signatures of human skeletal muscle atrophy, and we used these signatures to discover several small molecules that inhibit muscle atrophy in mice. We are now pursuing these small molecules as potential therapeutic agents for humans.
Honors and Awards
- Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, 1994
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Iowa, 1992-1999
- William Wilson Award, University of Iowa Department of Internal Medicine, 1999
- Physician Scientist Training Program, UT Southwestern, 1999-2005
- Clinical Scientist Development Award, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 2009
- Faculty Scholar, Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center, 2011-2016
- American Society of Clinical Investigation, 2013
Recent Publications
- Kunkel SD, Elmore CJ, Bongers KS, Ebert SM, Fox DK, Dyle MC, Bullard SA, and Adams CM. Ursolic acid increases skeletal muscle and brown fat and decreases diet-induced obesity, glucose intolerance and fatty liver disease. PLoS ONE. 7: e39332, 2012.
- Ebert SM, Dyle MC, Kunkel SD, Bullard SA, Bongers KS, Fox DK, Dierdorff JM, Foster ED, and Adams CM. Stress-induced skeletal muscle Gadd45a expression reprograms myonuclei and causes muscle atrophy. J. Biol. Chem. 287: 27290-27301, 2012.
- Kunkel SD, Suneja M, Ebert SM, Bongers KS, Fox DK, Malmberg SE, Alipour F, Shields RK, and Adams CM. mRNA expression signatures of human skeletal muscle atrophy identify a natural compound that increases muscle mass. Cell Metabolism. 13: 627-638, 2011.
- Ebert SM, Monteys A, Fox DK, Bongers KS, Shields BE, Malmberg SE, Davidson BL, Suneja M, and Adams CM. The transcription factor ATF4 promotes skeletal myofiber atrophy during fasting. Mol Endocrinol. 24: 2565-2573, 2010.
Links of Interest