Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Sun's laboratory is exploring the genetic control of aging in mammals and vertebrates. We are studying the endocrine mechanisms and nutritional factors for their effects on longevity and aging.

    The physiological role of the somatotropic axis in the control of aging in mammals and vertebrates
    The dietary factors on aging and longevity: calorie restriction vs. methionine restriction
    Interventions studies of age-related diseases such as Diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2022 Insights into the Role of Glucagon Receptor Signaling in Metabolic Regulation from Pharmacological Inhibition and Tissue-Specific Knockout Models.  Biomedicines.  10. 2022
    2022 Early Life Interventions Can Shape Aging.  Frontiers in Endocrinology.  13. 2022
    2021 University of Alabama at Birmingham Nathan Shock Center: comparative energetics of aging.  Geroscience.  43:2149-2160. 2021
    2021 Physiological and metabolic characteristics of novel double-mutant female mice with targeted disruption of both growth hormone-releasing hormone and growth hormone receptor.  Aging Cell.  20. 2021
    2021 The effects of early-life growth hormone intervention on tissue specific histone H3 modifications in long-lived Ames dwarf mice.  Aging.  13:1633-1648. 2021
    2020 Tissue-Specific GHR Knockout Mice: An Updated Review.  Frontiers in Endocrinology.  11. 2020
    2020 Insulin sensitivity in long-lived growth hormone-releasing hormone knockout mice.  Aging.  12:18033-18051. 2020
    2020 The epigenetic link between polyphenols, aging and age-related diseases.  Genes.  11:1-21. 2020
    2020 Physiological and metabolic features of mice with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated loss-of-function in growth hormone-releasing hormone.  Aging.  12:9761-9780. 2020
    2020 Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling of long-lived growth hormone releasing hormone knock-out mice: Evidence for altered mitochondrial function and amino acid metabolism.  Aging.  12:3473-3485. 2020
    2018 Effects of rapamycin on growth hormone receptor knockout mice 2018
    2017 Longevity is impacted by growth hormone action during early postnatal period.  eLife.  6. 2017
    2017 Differential effects of early-life nutrient restriction in long-lived GHR-KO and normal mice.  Geroscience.  39:347-356. 2017
    2016 Growth hormone actions during development influence adult phenotype and longevity.  Experimental Gerontology.  86:22-27. 2016
    2016 Brown adipose tissue function is enhanced in long-lived, male ames dwarf mice 2016
    2016 Original Research: Metabolic alterations from early life thyroxine replacement therapy in male Ames dwarf mice are transient.  Experimental Biology and Medicine.  241:1764-1771. 2016
    2016 Long-lived hypopituitary Ames dwarf mice are resistant to the detrimental effects of high-fat diet on metabolic function and energy expenditure.  Aging Cell.  15:509-521. 2016
    2016 Growth Hormone Receptor Deficiency Protects against Age-Related NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Immune Senescence.  Cell Reports.  14:1571-1580. 2016
    2016 Measuring aging rates of mice subjected to caloric restriction and genetic disruption of growth hormone signaling.  Aging.  8:539-546. 2016
    2015 Female PAPP-A knockout mice are resistant to metabolic dysfunction induced by high-fat/high-sucrose feeding at middle age.  Geroscience.  37:1-14. 2015
    2015 Thyroxine modifies the effects of growth hormone in Ames dwarf mice.  Aging.  7:241-255. 2015
    2014 Liver-Specific gh receptor gene-Disrupted (lighrko) mice have decreased endocrine igf-I, increased local igf-I, and altered body size, body composition, and adipokine profiles 2014
    2014 Tissue-specific GHR knockout mice: Metabolic phenotypes.  Frontiers in Endocrinology.  5. 2014
    2013 Growth hormone-releasing hormone disruption extends lifespan and regulates response to caloric restriction in mice.  eLife.  2013. 2013
    2013 Direct and indirect effects of growth hormone receptor ablation on liver expression of xenobiotic metabolizing genes 2013
    2013 Somatotropic signaling: Trade-offs between growth, reproductive development, and longevity.  Physiological Reviews.  93:571-598. 2013
    2013 Links between growth hormone and aging 2013
    2013 Duration of rapamycin treatment has differential effects on metabolism in mice.  Cell Metabolism.  17:456-462. 2013
    2012 Activation of genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism is a shared signature of mouse models with extended lifespan 2012
    2012 Meta-profiles of gene expression during aging: Limited similarities between mouse and human and an unexpectedly decreased inflammatory signature.  PLoS One.  7. 2012
    2011 Complex roles of Sirtuin 1 in cancer and aging 2011
    2011 Hepatic response to oxidative injury in long-lived Ames dwarf mice 2011
    2009 Fibroblasts from long-lived mutant mice show diminished ERK1/2 phosphorylation but exaggerated induction of immediate early genes.  Free Radical Biology and Medicine.  47:1753-1761. 2009
    2009 Life-span extension in mice by preweaning food restriction and by methionine restriction in middle age 2009
    2007 Adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus of long-lived mice during aging 2007
    2006 Insulin-like growth factor-I stimulates histone H3 and H4 acetylation in the brain in vivo 2006
    2006 Hippocampal IGF-1 expression, neurogenesis and slowed aging: Clues to longevity from mutant mice.  Geroscience.  28:181-189. 2006
    2005 Increased neurogenesis in dentate gyrus of long-lived Ames dwarf mice 2005
    2005 Long-lived growth hormone receptor knockout mice: Interaction of reduced insulin-like growth factor I/insulin signaling and caloric restriction 2005
    2005 Local expression of GH and IGF-1 in the hippocampus of GH-deficient long-lived mice.  Neurobiology of Aging.  26:929-937. 2005
    2004 Divergent effects of caloric restriction on gene expression in normal and long-lived mice 2004
    2000 Dimensionless ρ* scaling of particle transport in DIII-D L mode discharges.  Nuclear Fusion.  40:799-806. 2000

    Research Overview

  • Dr. Sun's current research focus on nutrition and hormonal signals during early-life development can influence the long-term health and the development of age-related diseases.

    Learn more about Dr. Sun's research on his lab website. He is currently recruiting motivated postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, research associates, and undergraduates. Candidates from a variety of backgrounds will be considered, provided they make a compelling case for contributing to the objectives and goals of the lab.

    Biology of Aging, Endocrinology, Obesity, Neurodegenerative disease

    • Principal Investigator On

    Investigator On

    Teaching Activities

  • BY362 - Neurobiology (Spring Term 2017)
  • BY362 - Neurobiology (Spring Term 2018)
  • BY362 - Neurobiology (Spring Term 2019)
  • BY362 - Neurobiology (Spring Term 2020)
  • BY362 - Neurobiology (Spring Term 2021)
  • BY397 - Advanced Directed Readings (Spring Term 2017)
  • BY397 - Advanced Directed Readings (Spring Term 2018)
  • BY398 - Undergrad Research - RES (Spring Term 2016)
  • BY398 - Undergrad Research - RES (Spring Term 2017)
  • BY398 - Undergrad Research - RES (Spring Term 2021)
  • BY398 - Undergrad Research - RES (Spring Term 2022)
  • BY398 - Undergrad Research - RES (Summer Term 2017)
  • BY398 - Undergrad Research - RES (Summer Term 2022)
  • BY414 - Advanced Cell Biology (Fall Term 2021)
  • BY436 - Biological Processes in Aging (Spring Term 2022)
  • BY495 - Special Topics in Biology (Fall Term 2019)
  • BY499 - Biology Seminar (Fall Term 2017)
  • BY499 - Biology Seminar (Fall Term 2018)
  • BY499 - Biology Seminar (Spring Term 2016)
  • BY614 - Advanced Cell Biology (Fall Term 2021)
  • BY618 - Colloquium in Biology of Aging (Fall Term 2018)
  • BY618 - Colloquium in Biology of Aging (Fall Term 2019)
  • BY618 - Colloquium in Biology of Aging (Spring Term 2020)
  • BY636 - Biological Processes in Aging (Spring Term 2022)
  • BY662 - Introductory Neurobiology (Spring Term 2019)
  • BY662 - Introductory Neurobiology (Spring Term 2020)
  • BY662 - Introductory Neurobiology (Spring Term 2021)
  • BY687 - Seminar in Endocrinology (Fall Term 2017)
  • BY687 - Seminar in Endocrinology (Spring Term 2016)
  • BY695 - Special Topics in Biology I (Fall Term 2019)
  • BY695 - Special Topics in Biology I (Spring Term 2017)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Fall Term 2016)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Fall Term 2019)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Fall Term 2020)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Fall Term 2021)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Fall Term 2022)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Spring Term 2017)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Spring Term 2019)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Spring Term 2020)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Spring Term 2021)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Spring Term 2022)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Summer Term 2020)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Summer Term 2021)
  • BY698 - Nonthesis Research (Summer Term 2022)
  • BY699 - Thesis Research (Spring Term 2021)
  • BY699 - Thesis Research (Summer Term 2022)
  • BY718 - Colloquium in Biology of Aging (Fall Term 2018)
  • BY718 - Colloquium in Biology of Aging (Fall Term 2019)
  • BY718 - Colloquium in Biology of Aging (Spring Term 2019)
  • BY736 - Biological Processes in Aging (Spring Term 2022)
  • BY787 - Seminar in Endocrinology (Spring Term 2016)
  • BY798 - Nondissertation Research (Fall Term 2016)
  • BY798 - Nondissertation Research (Fall Term 2021)
  • BY798 - Nondissertation Research (Fall Term 2022)
  • BY798 - Nondissertation Research (Spring Term 2022)
  • BY798 - Nondissertation Research (Summer Term 2021)
  • BY798 - Nondissertation Research (Summer Term 2022)

    • Education And Training

  • Doctor of Science or Mathematics in Molecular Physiology, Southern Illinois University System : Carbondale 2005
  • Doctor of Medicine, 1999

    • Full Name

  • Liou Sun