Director of the Biochemical Genetics Laboratory. Director of the Point-of-Care Testing Section. Co-Director of the Pathways of Human Disease Ph.D. Program in Pathology. Dr. Mooney also serves as the Director of Clinical Laboratories at Monroe Community Hospital and has served as Director of the Hem...
Director of the Biochemical Genetics Laboratory. Director of the Point-of-Care Testing Section. Co-Director of the Pathways of Human Disease Ph.D. Program in Pathology. Dr. Mooney also serves as the Director of Clinical Laboratories at Monroe Community Hospital and has served as Director of the Hemoglobinopathy Laboratory in the Department of Medicine.
Faculty Appointments
Professor Emeritus
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Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (SMD)
Credentials
Education
PhD | Johns Hopkins U Sch Medicine.Biochemistry.1980
MA | Johns Hopkins U Sch Medicine.Biochemistry.1973
BS | Rensselaer Polytech Inst.Chemistry.1971
Research
Obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in the industrialized world. This is a serious health concern because there is a strong association between obesity and insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Our lab is particularly interested in the link betw...
Obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in the industrialized world. This is a serious health concern because there is a strong association between obesity and insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Our lab is particularly interested in the link between obesity and type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes currently afflicts 6-7% of the U.S. population. It is characterized by defective insulin action (insulin resistance) leading to poor control of blood glucose (sugar) levels. The disease can lead to heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, amputations, and nerve damage. Sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits leading to obesity are contributing to the increased incidence of diabetes at all ages.
It has now become apparent that obesity-dependent insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes have characteristics of a chronic inflammatory state. This link between inflammation and insulin resistance is the focus of our lab. In one area of our work, we are testing the hypothesis that cytokines (particularly interleukin-6) contribute to inhibition of insulin receptor signaling in target tissues leading to insulin resistance. Consistent with this model, IL-6 levels are 2-3 times higher in the blood of diabetics than controls. We have demonstrated that a family of regulatory proteins, SOCS (Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling) proteins, are induced by IL-6 and other inflammatory cytokines in liver cells. SOCS proteins appear to bind to the components of the insulin receptor signaling pathway and inhibit insulin action. Thus, we propose the inflammatory environment of obesity increases expression of SOCS3 leading to insulin resistance. We are currently testing this model of obesity-dependent insulin resistance at the cellular level and with experimental animals.
The obese, type 2 diabetic has twice the risk of osteoarthritis when compared to a non-obese, non-diabetic individual. The traditional explanation for this risk is the increased bio-mechanical stress on the joint as a consequence of increased body weight. In another area of our lab's research, we have proposed an alternate explanation that attributes at least some of the progression of osteoarthritis in this population to metabolic dysregulation and chronic inflammation that is a hallmark of obesity-mediated diabetes. Recent investigations in our lab using diet-induced obese mice have provided experimental evidence to support a metabolic component to accelerated osteoarthritis progression in obesity-mediated diabetes. Ongoing investigations with genetic and dietary mouse models as well as in vitro models are being employed to define the metabolic pathways that are involved. Therapeutic modalities are also being investigated.
Patents
Compositions of Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides and Commensal Microorganisms and Methods Thereof
Issue date: September 07, 2021
Patent #: 11,110,147
Country: United States
Inventors: Christopher W Farnsworth, Robert Mooney, Janne Prawitt, Eric Schott, Michael J Zuscik
Moriarty TF, Harris LG, Mooney RA, Wenke JC, Riool M, Zaat SAJ, Moter A, Schaer TP, Khanna N, Kuehl R, Alt V, Montali A, Liu J, Zeiter S, Busscher HJ, Grainger DW, Richards RG
Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society.. 2019 February 37 (2):271-287. Epub 02/21/2019.
