Johan Auwerx

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Johan Auwerx (* 1958 in Diepenbeek ) is a Belgian physiologist and molecular biologist . He is a university professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Live and act

Johan Auwerx studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven and received his doctorate there in 1982. He was a post-doctoral student at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was a professor at the University of Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg and has been a professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Lausanne since 2008 . There he heads the Laboratory for Integrative Systems Physiology (LISP). He holds the Nestlé Chair in Energy Metabolism.

He investigated changes in gene expression and the resulting metabolic changes under the influence of the type of diet, physical activity and hormones and discovered the role of transcription cofactors ( e.g. via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors ) in the setting and as sensors of metabolism , which can thus serve as targets for drugs, for example for high blood pressure, diabetes, fatty liver and other metabolic diseases.

For example, he discovered (in mice) the positive role of sirtuin-1 in increasing the lifespan (reduction of aging) with a reduced-calorie diet (see calorie restriction ), the loss of NCoR1 (nuclear receptor corepressor 1) in mice to build muscle mass and leads to an increase in the number of mitochondria and their activity and showed in a double-blind study in 2011 that resveratrol, which occurs naturally in grapes, lowers the metabolic rate in overweight people. As early as 2006, he and colleagues found that resveratrol increased stamina and oxygen consumption in the muscles of mice and activated sirtuin 1.

In 2016 he received the Marcel Benoist Prize for his work on mitochondria and their role in metabolism and his discoveries about the interaction of food with body cells, for example in the initiation of fat breakdown in the mitochondria of the cell and in the containment of metabolic diseases. The laudation ascribes Auwerx a pioneering role in the discovery of the "communication" of certain food components with body cells.

Johan Auwerx has been a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) since 2003 . He is a highly rated scientist and serves on the editorial boards of Cell Metabolism , Molecular Systems Biology, The EMBO Journal , The Journal of Cell Biology , Cell, and Science . He received the Danone International Nutrition Award, the Oskar Minkowski Prize and the Morgagni Gold Medal.

Auwerx was a co-founder of various biotech companies such as Carex, PhytoDia and Mitobridge.

Fonts (selection)

Except for the works cited in the footnotes.

  • with K. Schoonjans, B. Staels: Role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) in mediating the effects of fibrates and fatty acids on gene expression, Journal of Lipid Research, Volume 37, 1996, pp. 907-925
  • with K. Schoonjans u. a .: PPARalpha and PPARgamma activators direct a distinct tissue-specific transcriptional response via a PPRE in the lipoprotein lipase gene, The EMBO Journal, Volume 15, 1996, p. 5336
  • with K. Schoonjans, B. Staels: The peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARS) and their effects on lipid metabolism and adipocyte differentiation, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) -Lipids and Lipid Metabolism, Volume 1302, 1996, pp. 93-109
  • with L. Fajas u. a .: The organization, promoter analysis, and expression of the human PPARγ gene, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 272, 1997, pp. 18779-18789
  • with D. Auboeuf a. a .: Tissue distribution and quantification of the expression of mRNAs of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and liver X receptor-α in humans: no alteration in adipose tissue of obese and NIDDM patients, Diabetes, Volume 46, 1997, pp. 1319-1327
  • with B. Staels u. a .: Mechanism of action of fibrates on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, Circulation, Volume 98, 1998, pp. 2088-2093
  • with M. Ricote a. a .: Expression of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) in human atherosclerosis and regulation in macrophages by colony stimulating factors and oxidized low density lipoprotein, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 95, 1998, pp. 7614-7619
  • with SS Deebs u. a .: A Pro12Ala substitution in PPARγ2 associated with decreased receptor activity, lower body mass index and improved insulin sensitivity, Nature Genetics, Volume 20, 1998, pp. 284-287
  • with TT Lu u. a .: Molecular basis for feedback regulation of bile acid synthesis by nuclear receptors, Molecular Cell, Volume 6, 2000, pp. 507-515
  • with SH Um u. a .: Absence of S6K1 protects against age-and diet-induced obesity while enhancing insulin sensitivity, Nature, Volume 431, 2004, pp. 200-205
  • with M. Watanabe a. a .: Bile acids induce energy expenditure by promoting intracellular thyroid hormone activation, Nature, Volume 439, 2006, pp. 4844-489
  • with L. Michalik u. a .: International Union of Pharmacology. LXI. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, Pharmacological Reviews, Volume 58, 2006, pp. 726-741
  • with C. Cantó a. a .: AMPK regulates energy expenditure by modulating NAD + metabolism and SIRT1 activity, Nature, Volume 458, 2009, pp. 1056-1060
  • with C. Thomas u. a .: TGR5-mediated bile acid sensing controls glucose homeostasis, Cell Metabolism, Volume 10, 2009, pp. 167-177

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johan Auwerx biography on EPFL's website
  2. ↑ Yamamoto, Auwerx et al. a .: NCoR1 Is a Conserved Physiological Modulator of Muscle Mass and Oxidative Function, Cell, Volume 147, 2011, pp. 827-839, Abstract |
  3. ↑ Auwerx, Patrick Schrauwen u. a., Calorie Restriction-like Effects of 30 Days of Resveratrol Supplementation on Energy Metabolism and Metabolic Profile in Obese Humans, Cell Metabolism, Volume 14, 2011, pp 612-622, abstract
  4. ↑ Lagouge, Auwerx et al. a .: Johan Auwerx Johan Auwerx: Resveratrol improves mitochondrial function and protects against metabolic disease by activating SIRT1 and PGC-1α, Cell, Volume 127, 2006, pp 1109-1122
  5. ^ Dani Duttweiler: Nutrition researcher Professor Johan Auwerx awarded the Prix Marcel Benoist 2016
personal data
SURNAME Auwerx, Johan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian molecular biologist and physiologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Diepenbeek