Food and Nutritional Sciences

    College of Agricultural & Life Sciences

    UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN-MADISON UW-MADISON

    Alan Attie

    Professor of Biochemistry

    Genetics of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic diseases. Genetics of diet responsiveness.

    attie@biochem.wisc.edu

    (608) 262-1372

    Website

    543A HF DeLuca Biochemistry Laboratories
    433 Babcock Drive
    Madison, WI 53706-1544

    Type: ,

    B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Ph.D., University of California-San Diego

    • Glutamine Metabolism Supports α cell Mass and Glucagon Secretion

      Anna Marie R Schornack, Tyler J Rodgers, Matthew Shou, Walter A Siv, Linlin Yin, Katelyn Sellick, Varsha Chigurupati, Joshua Debo, Soham Saraf, Paula G Nickles, Selina Park, Shannon E Gibson, Nitin Shankar, Jordyn R Dobson, Soma Behera, Jade E Stanley, Angelina Ehara, Madushika Wimalarathne, Amber Crabtree, Austin Reuter, Alan Attie, Elma Zaganjor, Katie C Coate, Yan Li, Jeffrey C Rathmell, Mark P Keller, David A Jacobson, Wenbiao Chen, E Danielle Dean

      bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. pmid:42523345, pmc:PMC13405131, doi:10.64898/2026.07.09.735845

    • Lifelong restriction of dietary valine has sex-specific benefits for health and lifespan in mice

      Mariah F Calubag, Ismail Ademi, Cara L Green, Dulmalika N H Manchanayake, Hashan S M Jayarathne, Ryan N Marshall, Sandra M Le, Penelope Lialios, Lucia E Breuer, Shoshana Yakar, Reji Babygirija, Michelle M Sonsalla, Isaac Grunow, Chung-Yang Yeh, Yang Liu, Bailey A Knopf, Sarah Yandell, Charles I Opara, William A Ricke, Teresa T Liu, Mark P Keller, Alan D Attie, Marianna Sadagurski, Dudley W Lamming

      Nature aging. pmid:42498891, pmc:PMC13472978, doi:10.1038/s43587-026-01169-0

    • Pancreatic islet α cell function and proliferation require the arginine transporter SLC7A2

      Erick Spears, Jade E Stanley, Matthew Shou, Linlin Yin, Xuan Li, Chunhua Dai, Amber Bradley, Katelyn Sellick, Greg Poffenberger, Katie C Coate, Shristi Shrestha, Anna Marie R Schornack, Taverlyn Shepard, Madushika Wimalarathne, Regina Jenkins, Kyle W Sloop, Keith T Wilson, Alan D Attie, Mark P Keller, Wenbiao Chen, Alvin C Powers, E Danielle Dean

      The Journal of clinical investigation. pmid:42294887, pmc:PMC13262736, doi:10.1172/JCI173913

    • Proinsulin regulators identified with CRISPR screen and in vivo mouse QTL mapping

      Sisi Lai, Mark P Keller, Jinglin Zhang, Zhou Fang, Ying Xie, Chen Weng, Saixian Zhang, Shanshan Zhang, Peidong Gao, Luxin Ke, Yuntong Wang, Kelly A Mitok, Lauren Clark, Kathryn L Schueler, Hanxiao Liu, Betul Hatipoglu, Maria Hatzoglou, Yuanyuan Chen, Anath Shalev, Fulai Jin, Alan D Attie, Yan Li

      Nature communications. pmid:41974708, pmc:PMC13249969, doi:10.1038/s41467-026-71726-z

    • Distinct genetic architecture of gene and isoform level QTL in the Diversity Outbred (DO) mouse population

      Charles I Opara, Kelly A Mitok, Christopher H Emfinger, Katheryn L Schueler, Donnie S Stapleton, Nancy A Benkusky, Udaya Gardiparthi, Kalynn H Willis, Victor Ruotti, Brian S Yandell, Mark P Keller, Alan D Attie

      bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. pmid:41959360, pmc:PMC13060904, doi:10.64898/2026.03.06.710203

    • Restriction of Individual Branched-Chain Amino Acids has Distinct Effects on the Development and Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease in 3xTg Mice

      Reji Babygirija, Cara L Green, Michelle M Sonsalla, Izabelle Marie F Le, Fan Xiao, Sarah Yandell, Mariah F Calubag, Michaela E Trautman, Anna Tobon, Ryan Matoska, Chung-Yang Yeh, Charles I Opara, Isaac Grunow, Diana Vertein, Sophia Schlorf, Bailey A Knopf, Michael J Rigby, David A Harris, Mark P Keller, Alan D Attie, Luigi Puglielli, Cholsoon Jang, Dudley W Lamming

      Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany). pmid:41817439, pmc:PMC13248761, doi:10.1002/advs.202515220

    • A structural model of toxic amyloid oligomers involved in type 2 diabetes

      Shivani T Shivani, Brynn E LeMasters, Thirupathi Ravula, Harrison J Esterly, Nikhil Maroli, Kacie L Rich, Caitlyn R Fields, Sidney S Dicke, Owen A Warmuth, Donald S Stapleton, Mark P Keller, Alan D Attie, Alexei A Kananenka, Katherine A Henzler-Wildman, Chad M Rienstra, Martin T Zanni

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. pmid:41587315, pmc:PMC12867623, doi:10.1073/pnas.2528103123

    • Mammals that can develop type 2 diabetes have a similarly structured β-sheet amyloid oligomer

      Brynn E LeMasters, Caitlyn R Fields, Justin P Lomont, Farzaneh Chalyavi, Kacie L Rich, Donald S Stapleton, Sidney S Dicke, Mark P Keller, Alan D Attie, Martin T Zanni

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. pmid:41587307, pmc:PMC12867628, doi:10.1073/pnas.2530570123

    • Transcripts with high distal heritability mediate genetic effects on complex metabolic traits

      Anna L Tyler, J Matthew Mahoney, Mark P Keller, Candice N Baker, Margaret Gaca, Anuj Srivastava, Isabela Gerdes Gyuricza, Madeleine J Braun, Nadia A Rosenthal, Alan D Attie, Gary A Churchill, Gregory W Carter

      Nature communications. pmid:40595617, pmc:PMC12216720, doi:10.1038/s41467-025-61228-9

    • VDAC1 is a target for pharmacologically induced insulin hypersecretion in β cells

      Gitanjali Roy, Andrea Ordóñez, Derk D Binns, Karina Rodrigues-Dos-Santos, Michael B Kwakye, George C King, Rachel L Kuntz, Noyonika Mukherjee, Andrew T Templin, Zhiyong Tan, Timothy I Richardson, Emma H Doud, Amber L Mosley, Kathryn L Schueler, Christopher H Emfinger, Alan D Attie, Mark P Keller, Travis S Johnson, Michael A Kalwat

      Cell reports. pmid:40512624, pmc:PMC12266945, doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115834

    Genetic Pipeline

    Our projects come from genes we identify in our screens using mouse genetics. We then study these genes in transgenic mice and in cell lines.

    Gene causal networks and diabetes

    By combining global gene expression profiling and genetics, we are able to construct causal networks linking specific genes with diabetes phenotypes. One of those genes is the transcription factor NFATc2. We are studying its regulation in relation to β-cell function and diabetes.

    Genetics of metabolic outcome

    There is tremendous variability in the response of individuals to different diets. Likewise, mouse strains vary in their response to diet. These responses are due to differences in the control of metabolic pathways. We are conducting a genetic screen using stable isotope tracers to measure metabolic outcome through many pathways in mice subjected to two extreme diets. We will map the genetic drivers responsible for strain differences in diet responsiveness

    grow magazine article, Spring 2015, about Attie’s Diabetes research click here.

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