Martin Valdearcos, PhD
Assistant Professor
Diabetes Center
School of Medicine

These highly dynamic cells continuously monitor their microenvironment for alterations, and distinct populations and activation states have been identified based on brain anatomical location, sex, and age. While microglia can respond to both local cues and peripheral factors, the complete repertoire of signals and transduction cascades governing their function remains to be elucidated. We recently showed that microglia are involved in the hypothalamic regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which microglial dysfunction contributes to metabolic disease are poorly understood. Our laboratory is dedicated to unraveling the functional heterogeneity of microglia, exploring their regulation by nutritional and metabolic signals, and understanding their interactions with other glial cells and neurons in the control of metabolic function

• Metabolic factors in the regulation of hypothalamic innate immune responses in obesity.
  Experimental & molecular medicine 2022 Folick A, Cheang RT, Valdearcos M, Koliwad SK
• Microglial Lipid Biology in the Hypothalamic Regulation of Metabolic Homeostasis.
  Frontiers in endocrinology 2021 Folick A, Koliwad SK, Valdearcos M
• Blocking Kv1.3 potassium channels prevents postoperative neuroinflammation and cognitive decline without impairing wound healing in mice.
  British journal of anaesthesia 2020 Lai IK, Valdearcos M, Morioka K, Saxena S, Feng X, Li R, Uchida Y, Lijun A, Li W, Pan J, Koliwad S, Marcucio R, Wulff H, Maze M
• mTORC1 to AMPK switching underlies β-cell metabolic plasticity during maturation and diabetes.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2019 Jaafar R, Tran S, Shah AN, Sun G, Valdearcos M, Marchetti P, Masini M, Swisa A, Giacometti S, Bernal-Mizrachi E, Matveyenko A, Hebrok M, Dor Y, Rutter GA, Koliwad SK, Bhushan A
• Hypothalamic microglia as potential regulators of metabolic physiology.
  Nature metabolism 2019 Valdearcos M, Myers MG, Koliwad SK
• Microglial Inflammatory Signaling Orchestrates the Hypothalamic Immune Response to Dietary Excess and Mediates Obesity Susceptibility.
  Cell metabolism 2018 Valdearcos M, Douglass JD, Robblee MM, Dorfman MD, Stifler DR, Bennett ML, Gerritse I, Fasnacht R, Barres BA, Thaler JP, Koliwad SK
• Interleukin-6 is both necessary and sufficient to produce perioperative neurocognitive disorder in mice.
  British journal of anaesthesia 2018 Hu J, Feng X, Valdearcos M, Lutrin D, Uchida Y, Koliwad SK, Maze M
• Microglial Inflammatory Signaling Orchestrates the Hypothalamic Immune Response to Dietary Excess and Mediates Obesity Susceptibility.
  Cell metabolism 2017 Valdearcos M, Douglass JD, Robblee MM, Dorfman MD, Stifler DR, Bennett ML, Gerritse I, Fasnacht R, Barres BA, Thaler JP, Koliwad SK
• Acute Lesioning and Rapid Repair of Hypothalamic Neurons outside the Blood-Brain Barrier.
  Cell reports 2017 Yulyaningsih E, Rudenko IA, Valdearcos M, Dahlén E, Vagena E, Chan A, Alvarez-Buylla A, Vaisse C, Koliwad SK, Xu AW
• Microglia mediate postoperative hippocampal inflammation and cognitive decline in mice.
  JCI insight 2017 Feng X, Valdearcos M, Uchida Y, Lutrin D, Maze M, Koliwad SK
• Critical role for cytosolic group IVA phospholipase A2 in early adipocyte differentiation and obesity.
  Biochimica et biophysica acta 2016 Peña L, Meana C, Astudillo AM, Lordén G, Valdearcos M, Sato H, Murakami M, Balsinde J, Balboa MA
• Saturated Fatty Acids Engage an IRE1α-Dependent Pathway to Activate the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Myeloid Cells.
  Cell reports 2016 Robblee MM, Kim CC, Porter Abate J, Valdearcos M, Sandlund KL, Shenoy MK, Volmer R, Iwawaki T, Koliwad SK
• Leptin potentiates astrogenesis in the developing hypothalamus.
  Molecular metabolism 2015 Rottkamp DM, Rudenko IA, Maier MT, Roshanbin S, Yulyaningsih E, Perez L, Valdearcos M, Chua S, Koliwad SK, Xu AW
• Hypothalamic inflammation in the control of metabolic function.
  Annual review of physiology 2015 Valdearcos M, Xu AW, Koliwad SK
• Microglia dictate the impact of saturated fat consumption on hypothalamic inflammation and neuronal function.
  Cell reports 2014 Valdearcos M, Robblee MM, Benjamin DI, Nomura DK, Xu AW, Koliwad SK
• Lipin-1 integrates lipid synthesis with proinflammatory responses during TLR activation in macrophages.
  Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2014 Meana C, Peña L, Lordén G, Esquinas E, Guijas C, Valdearcos M, Balsinde J, Balboa MA
• Lipin-2 reduces proinflammatory signaling induced by saturated fatty acids in macrophages.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2012 Valdearcos M, Esquinas E, Meana C, Peña L, Gil-de-Gómez L, Balsinde J, Balboa MA
• Subcellular localization and role of lipin-1 in human macrophages.
  Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2011 Valdearcos M, Esquinas E, Meana C, Gil-de-Gómez L, Guijas C, Balsinde J, Balboa MA
• The cationic cluster of group IVA phospholipase A2 (Lys488/Lys541/Lys543/Lys544) is involved in translocation of the enzyme to phagosomes in human macrophages.
  Journal of lipid research 2009 Casas J, Valdearcos M, Pindado J, Balsinde J, Balboa MA
• Requirement of JNK-mediated phosphorylation for translocation of group IVA phospholipase A2 to phagosomes in human macrophages.
  Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2009 Casas J, Meana C, Esquinas E, Valdearcos M, Pindado J, Balsinde J, Balboa MA