Dr. Craig Porter‘s research program examines the role of mitochondrial energy transduction in the regulation of metabolic rate, and how injury, disease, lifestyle (i.e. diet/exercise) and pharmacological interventions impact bioenergetics. He is specifically interested in the settings of developmental programming, obesity, and trauma such as burns.
His team leverages respiratory gas exchange and stable isotope approaches to determine metabolic rate and substrate metabolism at a whole-body level, as well as high-resolution respirometry and multi-omic approaches to assay tissue and cell mitochondrial function.
Dr. Porter also leads the Rodent Metabolic and Behavioral Phenotyping Core at Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center and the Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention’s Metabolism and Bioenergetics Core. These cores provide access to critical metabolic and bioenergetic phenotyping support at ACRI.
The role of the mitochondrion metabolic response to trauma and critical illness
Elevated energy expenditure and metabolic dysfunction are significant clinical problems facing critically ill patients such as those with severe burns. Through support from an NIGMS Maximizing Investigator Research Award (R35GM142744) our goal is to advance our understanding of the role of the mitochondrion in the metabolic stress response to burn trauma. We currently leverage innovative animal models and study patient’s receiving care for severe burns at Arkansas Children’s Burn Unit. Our long-term goals are to generate new knowledge that will aid in the development of strategies that reduce suffering and promote the recovery of burn survivors. Key publications on housing temp and adipocyte browning
Promoting rigor and reproducibility in rodent models of human disease
Rodents represent around 97% of the vertebrate animals used in biomedical research in the US. Growing evidence indicates that the translational value of rodent models of human disease is influenced by extrinsic environmental factors such as housing temperature. Guidelines in the US recommend housing laboratory rodents at temperatures ranging from 20°C to 26°C. However, there a growing body of evidence indicating that housing temperatures in the low to mid-20°Cs represents mild cold stress for rodents. Critically, compared to housing animals at thermoneutrality, sub- thermoneutrality can fundamentally change rodent physiology to a degree that can impact disease susceptibility and/or the efficacy of specific therapies. Accordingly, the utility and importantly the translational value of preclinical rodent models is dependent on appropriate control of housing temperature. With support from the USDA, NIGMS (P20GM109096-06S1) and the ORIP (R24OD037683) we have developed platforms that allow us to house rodents in environments extrinsic variables like housing temperature are tightly controlled and monitored – while performing high-resolution metabolic and behavioral phenotyping. Key publications on housing temperature, burn size, and burn-induced hypermetabolism.
Mitochondrial programing and metabolic health
Altered mitochondrial function and bioenergetics have been linked to numerous disease processes. With support of the USDA, our studies at Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center focus on determining if parental and early life exposures influence offspring mitochondrial function, metabolic health or disease susceptibility. We use rodent models to study the impact of maternal, parental and environmental factors on the programing of bioenergetics in offspring, and to test the impact of early life diet and exercise interventions in mitochondrial programing. Check out key publications on parental cardiorespiratory fitness influences early life and adaptations to early-life exercise training.
Supporting Metabolic and Bioenergetic Phenotyping Studies at ACRI
Through support from both the USDA and NIGMS ACRI is home to service cores that support metabolic and bioenergetic phenotyping approaches. The NIGMS funded Metabolic and Bioenergetic Core supports investigators in performing metabolic studies in human volunteers aimed at quantifying energy expenditure and substrate metabolism leveraging indirect calorimetry and stable isotope approaches – as well as supporting the analysis of mitochondrial function in various tissue and cell types through high-resolution respirometry and extra-cellular flux analysis. The Rodent Metabolic and Behavioral phenotyping Core supports the comprehensive high-resolution energetic phenotyping of rats and mice. Services from these cores are available to both ACRI and external investigators on a fee-for-service basis. See recent publications on a tracheal occlusion model, surgical weight loss on adipose tissue bioenergetics, and Mitochondrial respiratory function in human platelets.
Team Members
- Craig Porter, PhD, Professor
- Meagan Kingren, PhD, Post-doctoral Fellow
- Shashank Chikkamagaluru, PhD, Post-doctoral Fellow
- Jaycee Hall, Doctoral Student
- Lillie Treas, MS, Research Associate II
- Mary Bare, BS, Research Associate I
- Abby Barlow, BS, Research Associate I
