Beutler Laboratory

OUR GOAL

We aim to understand how the gut and the brain communicate with each other to maintain body weight, and how this goes awry in diseases including obesity.
To understand how the gut and the brain communicate with each other to maintain body weight and appetite, we use a variety of techniques including calcium imaging, optogenetics, chemogenetics, and RNA sequencing in genetically modified mice.

Current Projects

Mechanisms of nutrient-mediated gut-brain communication

Mounting evidence from our group and others suggests that different macronutrients communicate with the brain using different molecular mechanisms and neural circuits.

Disrupted gut-brain communication in diet-induced obesity

Understanding how different types of obesogenic diets impact neural activity across different feeding centers in the brain is a major goal of the lab.

Mechanisms of inflammation-induced anorexia

Severe chronic inflammation can cause a range of sickness behaviors including loss of appetite.