Abram Katz

My general interests are related to the regulation of skeletal muscle carbohydrate metabolism in the context of muscle contraction/exercise, hormone action and disease.

Specifically I have focused on the regulation of glycogen breakdown, glycogen synthesis and glucose transport in various experimental models ranging from muscle cell cultures, and isolated rodent muscle preparations to intact humans.

This work also impacts on our understanding of insulin action in skeletal muscle and how this relates to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Current projects

1. Use of muscle contractile properties to identify individuals exhibiting insulin resistance
2. Role of muscle fiber composition in development of lipid-mediated insulin resistance
3. Role of myokines in enhancing glucose-stimulated insulin secretion
4. Methods to maximize analyses of muscle analytes in small biopsy samples.

Representative publications

• Blackwood, SJ, B Jude, T Mader, JT Lanner, and A Katz: Role of nitration in control of phosphorylase and glycogenolysis in mouse skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol:Endocrinol Metab Doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00506.2020. 320:E691-E701, 2021.
• Blackwood, SJ, and A Katz: Isoproterenol enhances force production in mouse glycolytic and oxidative muscle via separate mechanisms. Pfluegers Arch – Eur J Physiol Doi:10.1007/s00424-019-02304-0.2019. 471:1305-1316, 2019.
• Frank, P, A Katz, E Andersson, and K Sahlin: Acute exercise reverses starvation-mediated insulin resistance in humans. Am J Physiol:Endocrinol Metab 304:E436-E343, 2013.