Selected publications (last 3 years):

1. J.C. Alvarez-Perez, S. Ernst, C. Demerci, G.P. Casinelli, J.M.D. Mellado-Gil, R.C. Vasavada, A. Garcia-Ocana. Hepatocyte Growth Factor/c-Met signaling is required for ß-cell regeneration. Diabetes 63:216-223, 2014.

2. J.C. Alvarez-Perez, T. C. Rosa, G. P. Casinelli, S. R. Valle, J. Lakshmipathi, C. Rosselot, F. Rausell-Palamos, R.C. Vasavada, and A. García-Ocana. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) ameliorates hyperglycemia and corrects beta cell mass in IRS2 deficient mice. Mol Endo 28:2038-48, 2014.

3. García-Martín A, Maycas M, Ardura JA, Lozano D, López-Herradón A, Portal-Núñez S, A García-Ocaña, Esbrit P. Roles of the nuclear localization signal 88-107 sequence of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) in osteoblastic cells. Mol Endo 28:925–934, 2014.

4. A. García-Ocaña and A. F. Stewart. “RAS”ling β cells to proliferate for diabetes: why do we need MEN? J Clin Invest, 124:3698-3700, 2014.

5. E. Bernal-Mizrachi, R. Kulkarni, D.K. Scott, F. Mauvais-Jarvis, A.F. Stewart and A. Garcia-Ocaña. Human ß-Cell Proliferation and Intracellular Signaling Part 2: Driving in the Dark without a Roadmap. Diabetes 63:819-831, 2014.

6. A. Maffei, A.M. Segal, J.C. Alvarez-Perez , A. Garcia-Ocaña, and P. Harris. Anti-incretin, anti-proliferative action of dopamine on β-cells. Mol Endo 29:542-557, 2015.

7. S. Ljubicic, K. Polak, J.M. Wiwczar, B. Szlyk, Y. Chang, J.C. Alvarez-Perez, G.H. Bird, L.D. Walensky, A. Garcia-Ocaña, N.N. Danial. Phospho-BAD Mimetic Strategies Protect ß-Cells and Restore Functional ß-Cell Mass in Diabetes. Cell Rep, 10: 497–504, 2015.

8. P. Wang, J.C. Alvarez-Perez, D.P. Felsenfeld, H. Liu, S. Sivendran, A. Bender, R.Sanchez, A. Kumar, D.K. Scott, A. Garcia-Ocaña, A.F. Stewart. Induction of Rodent and Human Pancreatic Beta Cell Replication by Inhibitors of Dual Specificity, Tyrosine-Regulated Kinase 1a. Nat Medicine, 21:383-388, 2015.

9. P. Wang, N. Fiaschi-Taesch, R.C. Vasavada, D.K. Scott, A. Garcia-Ocaña, and A.F. Stewart.  Advances and Challenges in Human Beta Cell Replication for Diabetes. Nat Rev Endo, 11:201-212, 2015.

10. A.F. Stewart, M.A. Hussain, A. García-Ocaña, R.C. Vasavada, A. Bhushan, E. Bernal-Mizrachi and R.N. Kulkarni. Human Beta Cell Proliferation and Intracellular Signaling: Part 3. Diabetes 64:1872-85, 2015.

11. E. Shroff, L. Eberlin, V. Dang, A. Gouw, M. Gabay, S. Adam, D.L. Bellovin, P. Tran, W. Philbrick, A. Garcia-Ocana, S. Casey, Y. Li, C. Dang, R. Zare, D. Felsher. MYC Oncogene Overexpression Drives Renal Cell Carcinoma in a Mouse Model through Glutamine Metabolism. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112:6539-44, 2015.

12. N.K. Guthalu, R. Fenutria, I. Pollack, A. Garcia-Ocaña, J. Penninger, R.C. Vasavada. Osteoprotegerin and Denosumab stimulate human beta cell proliferation through inhibition of the Receptor Activator of NF-κB Ligand pathway. Cell Metab, 22:77-85, 2015.

13. T.V. Sanchez-Encinales, I. Cozar-Castellano, A. Garcia-Ocaña*, G. Perdomo*. Targeted delivery of HGF to the skeletal muscle improves glucose homeostasis in diet induced-obese mice. J Physiol Biochem 71:795-805, 2015. *Co-corresponding authors.

14. T. Zhang, D.H. Kim, X. Xiao, S. Lee, Z. Gong, R. Muzumdar, V. Calabuig-Navarro, J. Yamauchi, H. Harashima, R. Wang, R. Bottino, J. Carlos Alvarez-Perez, A. Garcia-Ocaña, G. Gittes, H. Dong. FoxO1 Plays An Important Role in Regulating Beta-Cell Compensation for Insulin Resistance in Male Mice. Endocrinology 157:1055-70, 2016.

15. Y-C. Lai, D.M. Tabima, J.J. Dube, K.S. Hughan, R.R. Vanderpool, D.A. Goncharov, C.M. St Croix, A. Garcia-Ocaña, E.A. Goncharova, S.P. Tofovic, A.L. Mora, M.T. Gladwin. SIRT3-AMPK activation by nitrite and metformin improves hyperglycemia and normalizes pulmonary hypertension in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF). Circulation, 133:717-31, 2016.

16. R.E. Stamateris, R.B. Sharma, C.P. O’Donnell, A. Garcia-Ocana, and L.C. Alonso. Glucose induces pancreatic beta cell cyclin D2 expression and activates proliferation via a pathway involving IRS2 and mTORC1. Diabetes 65:981-995, 2016.

17. J. Lakshmipathi, J.C. Alvarez-Perez, C. Rosselot, G.P. Casinelli, R. Stamateris, F. Rausell-Palamos, C. O’Donnell, R.C. Vasavada, D.K. Scott, L.C. Alonso, A. Garcia-Ocaña. PKC-ζ is essential for pancreatic beta cell replication during insulin resistance by regulating mTOR and cyclin-D2. Diabetes 65:1283-1296, 2016.

18. A. Mozar, H. Lin, K. Williams, C. Chin, N.G. Kondegowda, A.F. Stewart, A. Garcia-Ocaña, R.C. Vasavada. Parathyroid Hormone-Related Peptide (1-36) Enhances Beta Cell Regeneration and Increases Beta Cell Mass in a Mouse Model of Partial Pancreatectomy. PLOS One, 11(7):e0158414, 2016.

19. A.I. Sacaan, S. Thibault, M. Hong, N.K. Guthalu, T. Nichols , R. Li, C. Rosselot, W. Evering, R. Fenutria, A.Vitsky, T. Brown, M. Finkelstein, A. Garcia-Ocaña, N. Khan, A.F. Stewart, R.C. Vasavada. The Effects of Inhibition of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4/6 on Glucose and Pancreatic Beta Cell Homeostasis in Young and Aged Rats. Molecular Cancer Research, 2017 Jul 31. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-17-0172. [Epub ahead of print].

20. S.D. Meriney, T.B. Tarr, K.S. Ojala, M. Wu, Y. Li, D. Lacomis, A. Garcia-Ocana, M. Liang, G. Valdomir, and P. Wipf. Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome: mouse passive-transfer model illuminates disease pathology and facilitates testing therapeutic leads. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2017, in press.