Associate Professor Department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology Indiana University School of Medicine 635 Barnhill Drive, Room 308A Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-5120 E-mail: jelmendo@iupui.edu Phone: 317-274-7852 Facsimile: 317-274-3318

Education / Training

• 1991, B.S., State University of New York at Oneonta, New York
• 1995, M.S., Albany Medical College, Albany, New York
• 1996, Ph.D., Albany Medical College, Albany, New York
• 1996-1999, Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

Research

Dissection of insulin signaling pathways, particularly the pathways regulating glucose transport into skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, and defining their alterations in diabetes, including insulin resistance is my major research interest. In muscle and fat cells, glucose transport is contingent on the ability of insulin to orchestrate the translocation of a glucose transporter protein (GLUT4) from an intracellular membrane compartment to the plasma membrane. Although an enormous research effort has identified many signaling molecules that transmit the signal from the activated insulin receptor to intracellular sequestered GLUT4, we still lack a complete link. Research in my laboratory is aimed at filling the gaps in our understanding of the insulin signaling system and identifying the molecular events responsible for insulin resistance characteristic of type 2 diabetes. Using a combination of biochemical, microscopic, and molecular approaches, studies are underway examining our central hypothesis that the cell surface lipid environment and the actin cytoskeleton has a dramatic influence on insulin action and glucose transport, and disturbances in lipid and cytoskeletal mechanics are involved in the metabolic staging of diabetes. My laboratory is currently funded by an NIH grant, an American Diabetes Association Grant, two American Heart Association grants, and a research grant from the Showalter Trust Foundation. Our research team is currently comprised of a research analyst, a postdoctoral fellow, and four graduate students. The laboratory is affiliated with Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and the Center for Diabetes Research.

Grant Funding

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Selected Recent Publications

Kralik S, Liu P, Leffler B, and Elmendorf JS.  Ceramide and glucosamine antagonism of alternate signaling pathways regulating insulin- and osmotic shock-induced GLUT4 translocation.
Endocrinology 143(1): 37-46, 2002.

Torrungruang K, Shah R, Alvarez M, Bowen D, Gerard R, Pavalko FM, Elmendorf JS, Charoonpatrapong K, Hock J, Rhodes SJ, and Bidwell JP.  Osteblast intracellular localization of Nmp4 proteins.
Bone, 30: 931-936, 2002. ScienceDirect.com

Elmendorf JS.  Signals that Regulate GLUT4 Translocation. J Membrane Biol 190: 167-174, 2002.

Chen G, Liu P, Thurmond DC, and Elmendorf JS.  Glucosamine-induced insulin resistance is coupled to O-linked glycosylation of Munc18c.
FEBS Letters 534: 54-60, 2003.

Elmendorf JS.  Analysis of GLUT4 translocation by fractionation. Methods in Molecular Medicine. Diabetes Mellitus: Methods and Procedures. S. Ozcan, ed. Humana Press, Inc. Totowa, NJ 2003.

Lakshmanan J, Elmendorf JS, and Ozan S.  Analysis of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Methods in Molecular Medicine. Diabetes Mellitus: Methods and Procedures. S. Ozcan, ed. Humana Press, Inc. Totowa, NJ 2003.

2004 

Liu P, Leffler BJ, Weeks LK, Bouchard CM, Chen G, Strawbridge AB, and Elmendorf JS.  Sphingomyelinase activates GLUT4 translocation via a cholesterol dependent mechanism.
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 286(2): C317-C329, 2004.

Elmendorf JS.  Fluidity of insulin action. Mol Biotechnol, 27(2): 127-138, June 2004. PubMed

Chen G, Raman P, Bhonagiri P, Strawbridge AB, Pattar GR, and Elmendorf JS.  Protective Effect of Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate against Cortical Filamentous Actin Loss and Insulin Resistance Induced by Sustained Exposure of 3T3-L1 Adipocytes to Insulin.
J Biol Chem, Vol. 279, Issue 38, 39705-39709, September 17, 2004.

Brozinick JT, Hawkins ED, Strawbridge AB, and Elmendorf JS.  Disruption of cortical actin in skeletal muscle demonstrates an essential role of the cytoskeleton in GLUT4 translocation in insulin sensitive tissues.
J Biol Chem, Vol. 279, Issue 39, 40699-40706, September 24, 2004.

2005 

Strawbridge AB and Elmendorf JS.  Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate reverses endothelin-1-induced insulin resistance.
Diabetes, 54(6): 1698-1705, 2005. PubMed

2006 

Strawbridge AB and Elmendorf JS.  Endothelin-1 impairs glucose transporter trafficking via a membrane-based mechanism.
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Volume 97, Issue 4, Pages 849-856, 2006. Wiley InterScience, PubMed

Chen G, Liu P, Pattar GR, Tackett L, Bhonagiri P, Strawbridge AB, and Elmendorf JS.  Chromium Activates Glucose Transporter 4 Trafficking and Enhances Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Transport in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes via a Cholesterol-Dependent Mechanism.
Molecular Endochrinology, 20(4): 857-870, Apr 2006. PubMed

Strawbridge AB, Elmendorf JS, and Mather KJ.  Interactions of endothelin and insulin: expanding parameters of insulin resistance.
Curr Diabetes Rev, 2(3): 317-327, Aug 2006. PubMed

McCarthy AM, Spisak KO, Brozinick JT, and Elmendorf JS.  Loss of cortical actin filaments in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle cells impairs GLUT4 vesicle trafficking and glucose transport.
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 291(5): C860-C868, Nov 2006. PubMed

Pattar GR, Tackett L, Liu P, and Elmendorf JS.  Chromium picolinate positively influences the glucose transporter system via affecting cholesterol homeostasis in adipocytes cultured under hyperglycemic diabetic conditions.
Mutat Res, 610(1-2): 93-100, Nov 2006. PubMed

2007 

McCarthy AM and Elmendorf JS.  GLUT4's itinerary in health & disease.
Indian J Med Res. 125(3): 373-388, Mar 2007. PubMed

Brozinick JT, Berkemeier BA, and Elmendorf JS.  “Actin”g on GLUT4: Membrane & Cytoskeletal Components of Insulin Action.
Current Diabetes Reviews, Volume 3, Number 2, pp. 111-122(12), May 2007. IngentaConnect, PubMed

2008 

Horvath EM, Tackett L, McCarthy AM, Raman P, Brozinick JT, and Elmendorf JS.  Antidiabetogenic Effects of Chromium Mitigate Hyperinsulinemia-Induced Cellular Insulin Resistance via Correction of Plasma Membrane Cholesterol Imbalance.
Mol Endocrinol. 22(4): 937-950, Apr 2008. PubMed

Horvath EM, Tackett L, Elmendorf JS.  A novel membrane-based anti-diabetic action of atorvastatin.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 372(4): 639-643, Aug 2008. PubMed

2009

Bhonagiri P, Pattar GR, Horvath EM, Habegger KM, McCarthy AM, Elmendorf JS.  Hexosamine biosynthesis pathway flux contributes to insulin resistance via altering membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and cortical filamentous actin.
Endocrinology, 150(4): 1636-1645, Apr 2009. PubMed
 

Last update: 6/16/2009