91ɫƵ

header-logo
Research Collaborate Lab Bench
John A. Corbett, PhD

John A. Corbett, PhD

Professor and Chair

Locations

  • Biochemistry
    BSB 373A

Contact Information

Education

PhD, Utah State University, 1990
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 91ɫƵ 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

  • (Stancill JS, Kasmani MY, Cui W, Corbett JA.) Function (Oxf). 2024 Jul 11;5(4) PMID: 38985000 PMCID: PMC11237896 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85198684386 07/10/2024

  • (Jones Lipinski RA, Stancill JS, Nuñez R, Wynia-Smith SL, Sprague DJ, Nord JA, Bird A, Corbett JA, Smith BC.) Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2024 Jun 01;326(6):R515-R527 PMID: 38618911 PMCID: PMC11381023 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85194976711 04/15/2024

  • (Naatz A, Yeo CT, Hogg N, Corbett JA.) Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2024 Jun 01;326(6):R552-R566 PMID: 38586887 PMCID: PMC11381020 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85195535629 04/08/2024

  • (Yeo CT, Kropp EM, Hansen PA, Pereckas M, Oleson BJ, Naatz A, Stancill JS, Ross KA, Gundry RL, Corbett JA.) J Biol Chem. 2023 Mar;299(3):102994 PMID: 36773802 PMCID: PMC10023961 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85150358100 02/12/2023

  • (Stancill JS, Corbett JA.) Vitam Horm. 2023;121:45-66 PMID: 36707143 PMCID: PMC10058777 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85146001426 01/28/2023

  • (Stancill JS, Corbett JA.) Vitamins and Hormones. January 2023;121:45-66 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85146001426 01/01/2023

  • (Sylvester PA, Corbett JA, Tarakanova VL.) Virology. 2022 Nov;576:134-140 PMID: 36244319 PMCID: PMC10069094 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85139738671 10/17/2022

  • (Sjöholm Å, Corbett JA, Leung PS, Portha B.) Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022;13:1069991 PMID: 36440197 PMCID: PMC9692067 11/29/2022

  • (Nord JA, Wynia-Smith SL, Gehant AL, Jones Lipinski RA, Naatz A, Rioja I, Prinjha RK, Corbett JA, Smith BC.) Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022;13:923925 PMID: 36176467 PMCID: PMC9513428 10/01/2022

  • (Stancill JS, Hansen PA, Mathison AJ, Schmidt EE, Corbett JA.) Function (Oxf). 2022;3(4):zqac034 PMID: 35873655 PMCID: PMC9301323 07/26/2022

  • (Stancill JS, Kasmani MY, Khatun A, Cui W, Corbett JA.) Function (Oxf). 2022;3(1):zqab063 PMID: 34927076 PMCID: PMC8674205 12/21/2021

  • (Stancill JS, Corbett JA.) Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021;12:718235 PMID: 34557160 PMCID: PMC8453158 09/25/2021