S. Ryan Oliver

Biography

S. Ryan Oliver is an assistant professor belongs to the department of Chemistry & Biochemistry from the university of Alaska Fairbanks.

Research Interest

All mammals depend on heat producing mechanisms to maintain body temperature. Skeletal muscle shivering and brown adipose tissue (BAT) uncoupling through the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP-1) are the identified major sources of heat production, though recently, skeletal muscle has also been highlighted as a thermogenic source. Skeletal muscle nonshivering heat production occurs via sarcolipin (SLN) uncoupling of sarcoendoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium ATPase (SERCA)-mediated ATP hydrolysis. My lab focuses on mechanisms of thermogenesis in a systems physiology approach to determine not only how mammals produce heat but also how multiple tissues communicate to regulate homeostatic temperatures. As humans also express SLN, the physiological mechanisms of these events provide insight toward a better understanding of metabolism within the context of temperature regulation and could expand our current understanding of thermoregulation in hibernating mammals, and eventually translate into future therapeutic developments for novel clinical treatments of obesity.