Rana Gupta, Ph.D.

Dr. Gupta received both his B.A. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania.  His doctoral work focused on the transcriptional mechanisms controlling the function and expansion of pancreatic beta cells.  He then moved to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA where he trained as a postdoctoral fellow studying the transcriptional mechanisms governing adipocyte specification and differentiation.  Drawn by the strong emphasis placed on adipose biology and molecular metabolism at UTSW, Dr. Gupta joined the Touchstone Diabetes Center in 2012. The Gupta laboratory focuses on the molecular and developmental mechanisms controlling adipose tissue development and expansion in obesity. 

Undergraduate	University of Pennsylvania (2001), Biochemistry
Graduate School	University of Pennsylvania (2006), Pharmacology

• Adipocyte Development
• Cell Differentiation
• Obesity
• Transcriptional Regulation

Featured Publications

Zfp423 expression identifies committed preadipocytes and localizes to adipose endothelial and perivascular cells.

Gupta RK, Mepani RJ, Kleiner S, Lo JC, Khandekar MJ, Cohen P, Frontini A, Bhowmick DC, Ye L, Cinti S, Spiegelman BM Cell Metab. 2012 Feb 15 2 230-9

Identifying novel transcriptional components controlling energy metabolism.

Gupta RK, Rosen ED, Spiegelman BM Cell Metab. 2011 Dec 14 6 739-45

Transcriptional control of preadipocyte determination by Zfp423.

Gupta RK, Arany Z, Seale P, Mepani RJ, Ye L, Conroe HM, Roby YA, Kulaga H, Reed RR, Spiegelman BM Nature 2010 Mar 464 7288 619-23

Expansion of adult beta-cell mass in response to increased metabolic demand is dependent on HNF-4alpha.

Gupta RK, Gao N, Gorski RK, White P, Hardy OT, Rafiq K, Brestelli JE, Chen G, Stoeckert CJ, Kaestner KH Genes Dev. 2007 Apr 21 7 756-69

The MODY1 gene HNF-4alpha regulates selected genes involved in insulin secretion.

Gupta RK, Vatamaniuk MZ, Lee CS, Flaschen RC, Fulmer JT, Matschinsky FM, Duncan SA, Kaestner KH J. Clin. Invest. 2005 Apr 115 4 1006-15

• NIH Mentor-based Career Development Award (K01)
  (2010)
• Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)
  (2007)