Dissertation Defense Announcement
To:  The George Mason University Community

*Candidate: Rohini Mehta
Program:    PhD Biosciences*

*Date:   Tuesday March 26, 2013
Time:   10:00 a.m.
Place:  George Mason University
            Prince William Campus
            **Bull Run Hall, Room 253**  
* 
Committee Chair: Dr. Ancha Baranova
Committee members: Dr. Alan Christensen, Dr. Patrick Gillevet, Dr. Soren 
Mogelsvang

*Title: "A Role of Visceral Adipose and Gastric Tissue in Inflammatory 
Conditions Associated with Metabolic Syndrome"*

The dissertation is on reserve in the Johnson Center Library, Fairfax 
campus.
The doctoral project will not be read at the meeting, but should be read 
in advance.

All members of the George Mason University community are invited to attend.


*ABSTRACT:*
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. Obesity is 
accompanied by co-morbidities affecting multiple peripheral tissues. 
Obesity associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the 
leading cause of chronic liver disease in the US. The molecular 
mechanisms underlying the development and the progression of NAFLD, 
however, remain poorly understood. Stomach is an important endocrine 
organ that produces a number of bioactive peptides with important roles 
in the metabolism of energy. Stomach is located in the vicinity of the 
liver, but so far it has been largely neglected as an organ with 
potentially important role in obesity and associated NAFLD. This study 
provides the evidence for the contribution of the stomach-specific 
expression changes in a number of molecules previously implicated in 
inflammation and energy homeostasis to the pathogenesis of 
obesity-associated NAFLD.
White adipose tissue (WAT) represents the majority of adipose tissue in 
humans, is the main fat storage organ. In contrast, brown adipose tissue 
(BAT) has a unique ability to spend energy through producing heat in 
mitochondrial "uncoupling". The facultative nature of BAT activity and 
its distribution within WAT depots complicate the detection of BAT in 
adult humans. In this study, the expression of genes involved in 
transcriptional regulation of brown adipocyte-specific UCP1 gene and BAT 
differentiation was assessed as quantitative indicator of BAT activity 
in adipose of adult humans.


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