Jay Horton, MD

Professor
Endowed Title: Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Chair in Obesity & Diabetes Research
Internal Medicine, Molecular Genetics
Graduate Program: Integrative Biology

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

jay.horton@utsouthwestern.edu

To make an appointment, call 214-645-8300.

Biography

Dr. Jay D. Horton obtained his B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Iowa in 1984 and 1988, respectively. He completed his internal medicine residency (1988-1991) and gastroenterology fellowship (1991-1994) at UT Southwestern Medical Center. During his gastroenterology fellowship he studied metabolic regulators of bile acid and cholesterol homeostasis in animals. Following the gastroenterology fellowship, he completed a Howard Hughes post doctoral fellowship in the Department of Molecular Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The studies in this fellowship focused on the transcriptional regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis.

In clinical digestive diseases, Dr. Horton has an interest in conditions that lead to steatosis and obesity. Currently the laboratory is investigating molecular mediators of steatosis using various mouse models. Investigations from the laboratory have revealed how the primary transcriptional regulators of cholesterol metabolism (sterol regulatory element-binding proteins) are also key regulators of fatty acid synthesis in liver. A major focus of the laboratory is to determine how these transcriptional regulators contribute to the development of steatosis in various disease processes such as diabetes, obesity, and beta-oxidation defects. A second area of investigation centers on determining the function of PCSK9, a protein that is involved in determining plasma LDL cholesterol levels through its ability to post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of the LDL receptor in liver.

Education

FellowshipUT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Molecular Genetics (1997)
FellowshipUT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Gastroenterology (1994)
Internship/ResidencyParkland Memorial Hospital, Internal Medicine (1991)
Medical SchoolUniversity of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (1988)

Research Interests

Hepatic steatosis
Lipid metabolism

Publications

Featured
Post-transcriptional regulation of LDL receptor protein by proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9a (PCSK9) in mouse liver

S. Park, Y-A. Moon, J.D. Horton , J. Biol. Chem. , 2004; (279):50630-50638

Featured
Combined analysis of oligonucleotide microarray data from transgenic and knockout mice identifies direct SREBP target genes

J.D. Horton, N.A. Shah, J.A. Warrington, N.N. Anderson, S.W. Park, M.S. , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. , 2003; (100):12027-12032

Featured
Increased levels of nuclear SREBP 1c associated with fatty livers in two mouse models of diabetes mellitus

I. Shimomura, Y. Bashmakov and J.D. Horton , J. Biol. Chem. , 1999; (274):30028-30032

Featured
Regulation of sterol regulatory element binding proteins in livers of fasted and refed mice

J.D. Horton, Y. Bashmakov, I. Shimomura and H. Shimano , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA , 1998; (95):5987-5992

Featured
Nuclear sterol regulatory element-binding proteins activate genes responsible for the entire program of unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in transgenic mouse liver

I. Shimomura, H. Shimano, B.S. Korn, Y. Bashmakov and J.D. Horton , J. Biol. Chem. , 1998; (273):35299-35306

Plasma PCSK9 preferentially reduces liver LDL receptors in mice

A. Grefhorst, M.C. McNutt, T.A. Lagace, and J.D. Horton , J. Lipid Res. , 2008; :In press.

Molecular basis for LDL receptor recognition by PCSK9

H-J. Kwon, T.A. Lagace, M.C. McNutt, J.D. Horton, and J. Deisenhofer , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. , 2008; (105):1820-1825

Molecular biology of PCSK9: its role in LDL metabolism.

J.D. Horton, J.C. Cohen, H.H. Hobbs , Trends Biochem Sci. , 2007; (32):71-77

Catalytic Activity Is Not Required for Secreted PCSK9 to Reduce Low Density Lipoprotein Receptors in HepG2 Cells.

M.C. McNutt, T.A. Lagace, J.D. Horton , J. Biol. Chem. , 2007; (282):20799-20803

Secreted PCSK9 decreases LDL receptors in hepatocytes and livers of parabiotic mice.

T. A. Lagace, D. E. Curtis, R. Garuti, M. C. McNutt, S. W. Park, H. B. Prather, N. N. Anderson, Y. K. Ho, R. E. Hammer, and J. D. Horton. , J. Clin. Invest. , 2006; (116):2995-3005

Honors/Awards

American Society for Clinical Investigation

(2003)

Established Investigator

American Heart Foundation (2000)

PEW Scholar

PEW Foundation (2000)

Research Scholar Award

American Digestive Health Foundation (1999)