Education

  • 2004 - AS, Parkland College, Champaign, IL
  • 2006 - BS, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
  • 2014 - PhD, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
  • 2015-2018 - NIDDK T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA

Research Interests

Metabolic flexibility allows for the adaptation of fuel oxidation to fuel availability. A decreased ability to switch between usage of lipids and carbohydrates is often seen in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our laboratory has used data from translational studies involving models of metabolic flexibility and inflexibility in both mice and humans in order to identify important molecular controls of substrate sensing and utilization. Our laboratory is currently interested in determining the way in which proper control of cellular RNA levels by the RNA binding protein, HuR, ensures maintenance of metabolic flexibility.

Selected Publications

  1. Mynatt RL, Noland RC, Elks CM, Vandanmagsar B, Bayless DS, Stone AC, Ghosh S, Ravussin E, and Warfel JD. The RNA binding protein HuR influences skeletal muscle metabolic flexibility in rodents and humans. Metabolism. 2019 May [Epub ahead of print]
  2. Warfel JD, Bermudez EM, Mendoza TM, Ghosh S, Zhang J, Elks CM, Mynatt R, Vandanmagsar B. Mitochondrial fat oxidation is essential for lipid-induced inflammation in skeletal muscle in mice. Sci Rep. 2016 Nov 28; 6:37941. PMCID: PMC5124994.
  3. Vandanmagsar B, Warfel JD, Wicks SE, Ghosh S, Salbaum JM, Burk D, Dubuisson OS, Mendoza TM, Zhang J, Noland RC, Mynatt RL. Impaired Mitochondrial Fat Oxidation Induces FGF21 in Muscle. Cell Rep. 2016 May 24;15(8):1686-99. PMCID: PMC4880522.
  4. Wicks SE, Vandanmagsar B, Haynie KR, Fuller SE, Warfel JD, Stephens JM, Wang M, Han X, Zhang J, Noland RC, Mynatt RL. Impaired mitochondrial fat oxidation induces adaptive remodeling of muscle metabolism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jun 23;112(25):E3300-9. PubMed PMID: 26056297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4485116.
  5. Warfel, J. D., Vandanmagsar, B., Wicks, S. E., Zhang, J., Noland, R. C., and Mynatt, R. L. (2017) A low fat diet ameliorates pathology but retains beneficial effects associated with CPT1b knockout in skeletal muscle. PLoS One 12, e0188850. PMCID: PMC5730174
  6. Warfel JD, Vandanmagsar B, Dubuisson OS, Hodgeson SM, Elks CM, Ravussin E, Mynatt RL. Examination of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 abundance in white adipose tissue: implications in obesity research. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2017 May 1;312(5):R816-R820. PubMed PMCID: PMC5451572.
  7. Sonomtseren S, Sankhuu Y, Warfel JD, Johannsen DL, Peterson CM, Vandanmagsar B. Lifestyle modification intervention improves glycemic control in Mongolian adults who are overweight or obese with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Obes Sci Pract. 2016 Sep;2(3):303-308. PMCID: PMC5043476.