
John A. Corbett, PhD
Professor and Chair
Locations
- Biochemistry
BSB 373A
Contact Information
Education
BS, Saint Norbert College, 1985
Biography
John A. Corbett received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Saint Norbert in 1985 and his Doctorate in Biochemistry from Utah State University in 1990. He performed postdoctoral studies at Washington University School of Medicine in the Department of Pathology from 1990-94. In 1995 Dr. Corbett joined Saint Louis University as an Assistant Professor in Biochemistry and rose to the rank of Professor in 2005. In 2007, Dr. Corbett joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham as the Nancy R. and Eugene C. Gwaltney Family Endowed Chair in Juvenile Diabetes Research, Professor in Medicine, and Director of The Comprehensive Diabetes Center. Dr. Corbett joined the faculty of the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2010.
Research Interests
Our laboratory is focused on determining the factors that influence the function and survival of pancreatic beta cells in the context of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We currently have three ongoing research programs. The broad goals of the first project are to elucidate the cellular mechanisms that are responsible for pancreatic beta cell death and to identify mechanisms by which beta cells protect themselves against cytokine- and free radical-mediated damage. Nitric oxide, the primary mediator of the inhibitory actions of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interferon-g (IFN-g) on beta cell function, also activates a "recovery" pathway that protects beta cells from cytokine-mediated damage. It is the delicate balance between the toxic and protective actions of nitric oxide that ultimately determine the susceptibility of beta cells to cytokine-mediated damage.
The broad goals of the second research program are to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms by which virus infection regulates macrophage activation and to determine the virus-activated pathways that contribute to the loss of beta cell function and viability. Using a virus known to induce diabetes in susceptible mice, we have recently identified three novel antiviral signaling pathways that regulate inflammatory gene expression in macrophages.
The third major research program tests the hypotheses that increased levels of random mutations in beta cell mtDNA lead to the loss of beta cell function and the inability to maintain normal glycemic control, and increase the vulnerability of beta cells to a secondary stress such as insulin resistance induced by a high fat diet. To examine these hypotheses, transgenic (Tg) mice that accumulate mtDNA mutations in beta cells due to the expression of an error-prone mtDNA polymerase under control of the rat insulin promoter have been generated.
Publications
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(Stafford JD, Shaheen ZR, Yeo CT, Corbett JA.) J Biol Chem. 2020 Dec 04;295(49):16655-16664 PMID: 32972972 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85097570380 09/26/2020
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(Oleson BJ, Corbett JA.) Biochem Pharmacol. 2020 06;176:113907 PMID: 32171728 PMCID: PMC7263971 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85082676643 03/17/2020
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SurfaceGenie: a web-based application for prioritizing cell-type-specific marker candidates.
(Waas M, Snarrenberg ST, Littrell J, Jones Lipinski RA, Hansen PA, Corbett JA, Gundry RL.) Bioinformatics. 2020 06 01;36(11):3447-3456 PMID: 32053146 PMCID: PMC7267825 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85085770971 02/14/2020
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(Stancill JS, Happ JT, Broniowska KA, Hogg N, Corbett JA.) Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2020 05 01;318(5):R1004-R1013 PMID: 32292063 PMCID: PMC7272767 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85084379321 04/16/2020
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The location of sensing determines the pancreatic β-cell response to the viral mimetic dsRNA.
(Shaheen ZR, Stafford JD, Voss MG, Oleson BJ, Stancill JS, Corbett JA.) J Biol Chem. 2020 02 21;295(8):2385-2397 PMID: 31915247 PMCID: PMC7039570 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85079888996 01/10/2020
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The Role of Metabolic Flexibility in the Regulation of the DNA Damage Response by Nitric Oxide.
(Oleson BJ, Broniowska KA, Yeo CT, Flancher M, Naatz A, Hogg N, Tarakanova VL, Corbett JA.) Mol Cell Biol. 2019 09 15;39(18) PMID: 31235477 PMCID: PMC6712938 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85071713105 06/27/2019
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(Hayes H, Patz J, Corbett J, Afzal MZ, Strande J, Kindel TL.) Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2019 Jun;15(6):837-842 PMID: 31101567 PMCID: PMC6682432 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85065518973 05/19/2019
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(Shaheen ZR, Christmann BS, Stafford JD, Moran JM, Buller RML, Corbett JA.) Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2019 05 01;316(5):R525-R534 PMID: 30811246 PMCID: PMC6589596 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85065293566 02/28/2019
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Pancreatic β-cells detoxify H2O2 through the peroxiredoxin/thioredoxin antioxidant system.
(Stancill JS, Broniowska KA, Oleson BJ, Naatz A, Corbett JA.) J Biol Chem. 2019 03 29;294(13):4843-4853 PMID: 30659092 PMCID: PMC6442057 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85063968215 01/20/2019
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(Oleson BJ, Naatz A, Proudfoot SC, Yeo CT, Corbett JA.) Diabetes. 2018 05;67(5):898-910 PMID: 29444892 PMCID: PMC5909998 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85046011042 02/16/2018
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(Baldwin AC, Naatz A, Bohnsack RN, Bartosiak JT, Oleson BJ, Hansen PA, Dahms NM, Corbett JA.) Mol Cell Biol. 2018 04 15;38(8) PMID: 29378831 PMCID: PMC5879465 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85044766344 01/31/2018
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Decreased Sirtuin Deacetylase Activity in LRRK2 G2019S iPSC-Derived Dopaminergic Neurons.
(Schwab AJ, Sison SL, Meade MR, Broniowska KA, Corbett JA, Ebert AD.) Stem Cell Reports. 2017 12 12;9(6):1839-1852 PMID: 29129681 PMCID: PMC5785678 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85033362137 11/14/2017