This K23 Patient-Oriented Mentored Research Award builds on the candidate?s expertise in pharmacology and epigenetics to provide the support necessary to complete training in responsible conduct of research and three other needs: 1) clinical research design and execution, 2) in vivo insulin sensitivity measurement, 3) design and execution proteomics experiments. This training will be accomplished through a combination of expert mentor- ship, didactic (short courses and certificate program) and hands-on experiences (human insulin sensitivity meas- urements and proteomics). The career development activities and research will be mentored by Dr. Zhengping Yi (Primary) and Dr. Renu Kowluru, and supplemented by a physician key collaborator (Dr. Berhane Seyoum), consultants and a yearly, external scientific advisory committee. The candidate?s transition to independence will be aided by an R01 grant writing program, presentation of findings at national conferences and publication of results in high-impact journals. The research plan will provide a platform for training and address a gap in the understanding of how atypical antipsychotics cause insulin resistance. The long-term goal of the proposed work is to establish and sustain an independent career focused on the impact of molecular factors and mechanisms in medication outcomes. The objective is to determine the causal relationship between the observed skeletal muscle epigenetic and protein changes in response to atypical antipsychotics, and the development of insulin resistance using a randomized, placebo-controlled, 7-day trial of olanzapine in healthy volunteers. The central hypothesis, based on preliminary data, is that obesity- and mental illness-independent atypical antipsychotic- induced insulin resistance is caused by DNA hypermethylation and altered protein abundance and regulation in the skeletal muscle. The rationale for this work is that it will establish the molecular mechanisms that underlie atypical antipsychotic-induced insulin resistance, while providing the training and expertise for a research pro- gram to develop precise, tractable targets for future interventions to alleviate epigenetic and/or protein-based dysregulations. The central hypothesis will be tested by obtaining baseline and endpoint basal and insulin-stim- ulated skeletal muscle samples from the 7-day trial in the following specific aims: 1) Identify the relevant genes affected by the hypermethylation seen with atypical antipsychotic-induced insulin resistance and 2) Determine the relevant protein changes underlying obesity-independent atypical antipsychotic-induced insulin resistance. The approach is innovative, in the candidate?s opinion, because it seeks to change the status quo of assessing molecular changes in psychiatric populations already using antipsychotics and because it seeks to assess these changes in a tissue-specific manner using powerful epigenomic and proteomic approaches. The proposed work is significant because it is expected to have a positive impact both on the field, and in positioning the candidate for independence. This work will provide the basis for targeting the molecular dysregulations caused by antipsy- chotics and preventing mortality from insulin resistance and diabetes.
This proposed work is relevant to public health because the discovery of how atypical antipsychotics cause insulin resistance will directly address the Healthy People 2020 goals of reducing the risk and burden of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and ultimately prevent new cases of diabetes caused by medications. Therefore, this project is relevant to NIH?s mission because it will identify the underlying knowledge that will allow us to reduce harmful side effects from medications and therefore human disability and death.
