Programs
Departments & Divisions
Institutes & Centers
Research Areas
Diabetes & Kidney Health Longevity & AgingJuli Bai, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Cell Systems & Anatomy
Department of Pharmacology
Currently seeking M.S. & Ph.D. students
Our research has been dedicated to unraveling novel mechanisms underlying pathophysiological change-induced metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) as well as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Particularly, our current research is focused on the mitochondrial-ER stress, lipid metabolism and innate immune signaling in the progression of these metabolic disease. We employ various tissue-specific transgenic and/or knockout mouse models, utilizing advanced technologies such as molecular and cell biology, single-cell sequencing, live-cell confocal, live-animal two photon microscopy, along with multi-omics approaches. The aim is to identify novel targets for metabolic diseases. A comprehensive understanding of these key mechanisms will provide crucial insights for the development of innovative therapeutic targets in the treatment NAFL, NASH and HCC.
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Professional Background
Education
- PhD - Environmental Medicine - Shanxi University
- MS - Environmental Medicine - Shanxi University
- Postdoctoral Training - Obesity and Diabetes - The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Training
- Postdoctoral fellowship - Obesity and Diabetes - UT Health San Antonio
Appointments
- 2/2018 - Instructor/Research - UT Health San Antonio, Pharmacology, San Antonio
- 2/2019 - Assistant Professor - UT Health San Antonio, Pharmacology, San Antonio
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Research & Grants
Innovative Basic Science Award of American Diabetes Association
Title: The role of the cGAS-cGAMP pathway in regulating energy homeostasis.
NIH R01/NIDDK
Title: Innate Immunity in NASH
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Publications
1. Zhao S, Lin Q, Xiong W, Li L, Straub L, Zhang D, Zhu Q, Sun X, Zhang Z, Funcke J, Li C, Chen S, Zhu Y, Jiang N, Li G, Xu Z, Wyler S, Wang M, Bai J, Han X, Kusminski C, Zhang Z, An Z, Elmquist Joel, Osborn O, Liu C, Scherer P. Hyperleptinemia contributes to antipsychotic drug-associated obesity and metabolic disorders. Science Translational Medicine, Accepted, 2023.
2. Liu H#, He Y#, Bai J#, Zhang C, Zhang F, Yang Y, Luo H, Yu M, Liu H, Tu L, Zhang N, Yin N, Han J, Yan Z, Scarcelli N, Conde K, Wang M, Bean J, Potts C, Wang C, Hu F, Liu F*, Xu Y*. Hypothalamic Grb10 suppresses obesity by enhancing leptin signaling. Nature Metabolism, 2023, 5(1): 147-164. (*Co-First)
3. J Bai and F Liu. The Yin-Yang Functions of Macrophages in Metabolic Disorders. Life Medicine, 2022, Inac035.
4. Liu F, Cai Z, Yang Y, Plasko G, Zhao P, Wu X, Tang C, Li D, Li T, Hu S, Song L, YU S, Xu R, Luo H, Fan L, Wang E, Xiao Z, Ji Y, Zeng R, Li R, Bai J, Zhou Z, Liu F, Zhang J. The adipocyte-enriched secretory protein tetranectin exacerbates type 2 diabetes by inhibiting insulin secretion from b cells. Science Advance, 2022, 8(38): eabq1799.
5. T Xiao, W meng, Z Jin, J Wang, J Deng, J Wen, B Liu, J Bai, F Liu. miR-182-5p promotes hepatocyte-stellate cell crosstalk to facilitate liver regeneration. Communications Biology, 2022, 5(1); 1-12.
6. Bai J* and Liu F*. Nuclear cGAS: sequestration and beyond. Protein & Cell, 2022, 13: 90-101. (*Co-Correspondence)
7. He S, Ryu J, Liu J, Luo H, Lv Y, Langlais P, Wen J, Dong F, Sun Z, Xia W, Lynch J, Duggirala R, Nicholson B, Zang M, Shi Y, Zhang F, Liu F, Bai J*, Dong LQ*. LRG1 is an adipokine that mediates obesity-induced hepatosteatosis and insulin resistance. J Clin Invest, 2021, 131(24): e148545. (*Co-Correspondence)
8. Bai J* and Liu F*. cGAS‒STING signaling and function in metabolism and kidney diseases. J Mol Cell Biol, 2021, 13(10): 728-738. (*Co-Correspondence)
9. Meng W, Xiao T, Liang X, Wen J, Peng X, Wang J, Zou Y, Liu J, Bialowas C, Luo H, Zhang Y, Liu B, Zhang J, Hu F, Liu M, Dong LQ, Zhou Z, Liu F*, Bai J*. The miR-182-5p/FGF21/acetylcholine axis mediates the crosstalk between adipocytes and macrophages to promote beige fat thermogenesis. JCI Insight, 2021, 6(17): e150249. (*Co-Correspondence)
10. Zhou H*, Peng X, Hu J, Wang L, Luo H, Zhang J, Zhang Y, Li G, Ji Y, Zhang J, Bai J, Liu M, Zhou Z, Liu F*. DsbA-L deficiency in T cells promotes diet-induced thermogenesis through suppressing IFN-γ production. Nat Commun, 2021, 12 (1):326. PMID: 33436607.
11. Bai J*, Cervantes C, He S, He J, Plasko G, Wen J, Li Z, Yin D, Zhang C, Liu M, Dong L.Q., Liu F*. Mitochondrial stress-activated cGAS-STING pathway inhibits thermogenic program and contributes to overnutrition-induced obesity in mice. Communications Biology, 2020, 3(1): 257. (*Co-Correspondence)
12. Bai J, and Liu F. The cGAS-cGAMP-STING Pathway: A Molecular Link between Immunity and Metabolism. Diabetes, 2019, 68(6): 1099-1108.
13. Ryu J, Loza CA, Xu H, Zhou M, Hadley JT, Wu J, You H, Wang H, Yang J, Bai J, Liu F, Bialowas C, Dong LQ. Potential Roles of Adiponectin Isoforms in Human Obesity with Delayed Wound Healing. Cells, 2019, 8(10):1134
14. Meng W, Liang X, Xiao T, Wang J, Wen J, Luo H, Teng J, Fei Y, Zhang Q, Liu B, Hu F, Bai J, Liu M, Zhou Z, Liu F. Rheb promotes brown fat thermogenesis by Notch-dependent activation of the PKA signaling pathway. J Mol Cell Biol, 2019, 11(9):781-790.
15. Bai J, Cervantes C, Liu J, He S, Zhou H, Zhang B, Cai H, Yin D, Hu D, Li Z, Chen H, Gao X, Wang F, O’Connor J.C, Xu Y, Liu M, Dong L.Q, Liu F. DsbA-L prevents obesity-induced inflammation and insulin resistance by suppressing the mtDNA release-activated cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2017, 114(46):12196-12201.
16. Chen H#, Bai J#, Dong F, Fang H, Zhang Y, Meng W, Liu B, Luo Y, Liu M, Bai Y, Abdul-Ghani MA, Li R, Wu J, Zeng R, Zhou Z, Dong LQ, Liu F. Hepatic DsbA-L protects mice from diet-induced hepatosteatosis and insulin resistance. FASEB J, 2017, 31(6): 2314-2326. (#Co-First)
17. Meng W, Liang X, Chen H, Luo H, Bai J, Li G, Zhang Q, Xiao T, He S, Zhang Y, Xu Z, Xiao B, Liu M, Hu F, Liu F. Rheb Inhibits Beiging of White Adipose Tissue via PDE4D5-Dependent Downregulation of the cAMP-PKA Signaling Pathway. Diabetes, 2017, 66(5): 1198-1213.
18. Bai J, He J and Gao Y. Betulin Rescues Elevated SREBP Expression in Heart of Rats Exposed to Chronic Sulfur Dioxide. J Biores Commun, 2017, 1(1): e104. (Editorial)
19. Liu M, Bai J, He S, Villarreal R, Hu D, Zhang C, Yang X, Liang H, Slaga TJ, Yu Y, Zhou Z, Blenis J, Scherer PE, Dong LQ, Liu F. Grb10 promotes lipolysis and thermogenesis by phosphorylation-dependent feedback inhibition of mTORC1. Cell Metabolism, 2014, 19(6): 967-980.