Warner Lab
Margaret Warner, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biology and Biochemistry
Office: SERC, 3021
Contact: mwarner@uh.edu - 832-842-8812
Professor Margaret Warner leads a research group focused on the study of three soluble ligand- activated receptors - estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) and liver X receptor beta (LXRβ) in health and disease.
Studies with ERβ led to the discovery of a pathway in which dihydrotestosterone is converted into 3β-Adiol, an ERβ agonist. The pathway revealed a novel role for dihydrotestosterone in the prostate i.e., in addition to being a potent androgen, it is a precursor of an estrogen.
On the basis of the phenotype of mice in which ERβ or LXRβ have been inactivated, the team is investigating the value of ERβ as a target for treatment of breast and prostate cancer.
Both receptors are involved in regulation of the immune system. Both ERβ and LXRβ play key roles in the central nervous system and appear to offer protection against neurodegenerative diseases caused by over activity of the brain’s immune system. These include Parkinson’s disease, Amyotropic lateral sclerosis and Multiple sclerosis.
Prior to joining the Center, Warner worked in close collaboration with professor Jan-Åke Gustafsson at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Warner is a member of the CNRCS founding faculty and shares a research group with Gustafsson.
One long-term collaborator in the team is neurobiologist, Wanfu Wu, a research assistant professor.
Recent News
- Researchers Investigate Nuclear Receptors in Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson Disease
- Center Researchers Explore Nuclear Receptors in Anxiety Disorders
Funding
Margaret Warner, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biology and Biochemistry
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204-5056
Office: SERC 545, Room 3021
Phone: 832-842-8812
mwarner@uh.edu
Research Faculty
Wanfu Wu
Research Assistant Professor
wwu@uh.edu
Wanfu Wu joined the Center as a postdoctoral fellow in the Gustafsson group. His experience includes working as a neuroscience researcher at the Chongqing Medical University, China, where he focused on the treatment effect of neural stems cells transfected with HIF-1a gene on ischemic stroke in rats. Wu also focused on the migration mechanism of neural stem cells after ischemic stroke. He has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and training in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and immunology techniques.
| Publications on ERβ in the Prostate | Impact Factor |
|---|---|
| Estrogen receptor β, a regulator of androgen receptor signaling in the mouse ventral prostate.Wu WF, Maneix L, Insunza J, Nalvarte I, Antonson P, Kere J, Yu NY, Tohonen V, Katayama S, Einarsdottir E, Krjutskov K, Dai YB, Huang B, Su W, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 May 9;114(19):E3816-E3822. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702211114. PMID:28439009 | 9.4 |
| Estrogen receptor β exon 3-deleted mouse: The importance of non-ERE pathways in ERβ signaling. Maneix L, Antonson P, Humire P, Rochel-Maia S, Castañeda J, Omoto Y, Kim HJ, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Apr 21;112(16):5135-40. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1504944112. PMID:25848008 | 9.4 |
| Stromal growth and epithelial cell proliferation in ventral prostates of liver X receptor knockout mice.Kim HJ, Andersson LC, Bouton D, Warner M, Gustafsson JA.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 106(2):558-63doi:10.1073/pnas.0811295106 | 9.4 |
| Estrogen receptor beta regulates epithelial cellular differentiation in the mouse ventral prostate.Imamov O, Morani A, Shim GJ, Omoto Y, Thulin-Andersson C, Warner M, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Jun 22;101(25):9375-80 | 9.4 |
| An endocrine pathway in the prostate, ERbeta, AR, 5alpha-androstane-3beta,17beta-diol, and CYP7B1, regulates prostate growth.Weihua Z, Lathe R, Warner M, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Oct 15;99(21):13589-94. PMID:12370428 | 9.4 |
| A role for estrogen receptor beta in the regulation of growth of the ventral prostate. Weihua Z, Makela S, Andersson LC, Salmi S, Saji S, Webster JI, Jensen EV, Nilsson S, Warner M, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 98(11):6330-5. | 9.4 |
| Generation and reproductive phenotypes of mice lacking estrogen receptor beta.Krege JH, Hodgin JB, Couse JF, Enmark E, Warner M, Mahler JF, Sar M, Korach KS, Gustafsson JA, Smithies O.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 199895(26):1567782.PMID:9861029 | 9.4 |
| Papers on ERβ in Tissues Other Than the Prostate Jan 2014–Present | Impact Factor |
|---|---|
| Estrogen receptor β controls proliferation of enteric glia and differentiation of neurons in the myenteric plexus after damage .D'Errico F, Goverse G, Dai Y, Wu W, Stakenborg M, Labeeuw E, De Simone V, Verstockt B, Gomez-Pinilla PJ, Warner M, Di Leo A, Matteoli G, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 115(22):5798-5803. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1720267115. PMID:29760072 | 9.4 |
| Pharmacological activation of estrogen receptor beta augments innate immunity to suppress cancer metastasis. Zhao L, Huang S, Mei S, Yang Z, Xu L, Zhou N, Yang Q, Shen Q, Wang W, Le X, Lau WB, Lau B, Wang X, Yi T, Zhao X, Wei Y, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ, Zhou S. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 115(16):E3673-E3681. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1803291115. PMID:29592953 | 9.4 |
| Liver X receptor β regulates the development of the dentate gyrus and autistic-like behavior in the mouse. Cai Y, Tang X, Chen X, Li X, Wang Y, Bao X, Wang L, Sun D, Zhao J, Xing Y, Warner M, Xu H, Gustafsson JÅ, Fan X. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018.115(12):E2725E2733.doi:10.1073/pnas. 1800184115.PMID:29507213 | 9.4 |
| Ablation of cytochrome P450 omega-hydroxylase 4A14 gene attenuates hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. Zhang X, Li S, Zhou Y, Su W, Ruan X, Wang B, Zheng F, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ, Guan Y.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1700172114.PMID 28270609 | 9.4 |
| An ERβ agonist induces browning of subcutaneous abdominal fat pad in obese female mice. Miao YF, Su W, Dai YB, Wu WF, Huang B, Barros RP, Nguyen H, Maneix L, Guan YF, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Sci Rep. 2016 6:38579. doi: 10.1038/srep38579.PMID:279221255.2 | 5.2 |
| Defective cholesterol metabolism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Abdel-Khalik J, Yutuc E, Crick PJ, Gustafsson JÅ, Warner M, Roman G, Talbot K, Gray E, Griffiths WJ, Turner MR, Wang Y. J Lipid Res. 2017 58(1):267-278. doi: 10.1194/jlr.P071639.PMID:27811233 | 5.5 |
| Differential expression of estrogen receptor α, β1, and β2 in lobular and ductal breast cancer. Huang B, Omoto Y, Iwase H, Yamashita H, Toyama T, Coombes RC, Filipovic A, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 111(5):1933-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1323719111.PMID: 24449868 | 9.4 |
| Estrogen Receptor β as a Pharmaceutical Target. Warner M, Huang B, Gustafsson JA.Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2017 Jan;38(1):92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2016.10.006. Review.PMID:27979317 | 12.1 |
| Dysregulation of Notch and ERα signaling in AhR-/- male mice. Huang B, Butler R, Miao Y, Dai Y, Wu W, Su W, Fujii-Kuriyama Y, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Oct 18;113(42):11883-11888. PMID: 27688768 | 9.4 |
| Papers on the Function of LXRβ | Impact Factor |
|---|---|
| Ablation of Liver X receptors α and β leads to spontaneous peripheral squamous cell lung cancer in mice. Dai YB, Miao YF, Wu WF, Li Y, D'Errico F, Su W, Burns AR, Huang B, Maneix L, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jul 5;113(27):7614-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1607590113. PMID:27335465 | 9.4 |
| Liver X Receptor β Is Involved in Formalin-Induced Spontaneous Pain.Bao X, Cai Y, Wang Y, Zhao J, He X, Yu D, Huang J, Jing S, Du Z, Yang T, Warner M, Gustafsson JA, Fan X. Mol Neurobiol. 2017 Mar;54(2):1467-1481. doi: 10.1007/s12035-016-9737-1. PMID:26846362 | 5.0 |
| Liver X receptor β controls thyroid hormone feedback in the brain and regulates browning of subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Miao Y, Wu W, Dai Y, Maneix L, Huang B, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Nov 10;112(45):14006-11. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1519358112. PMID:26504234 | 9.4 |
| Liver X receptors regulate cerebrospinal fluid production.Dai YB, Wu WF, Huang B, Miao YF, Nadarshina S, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Mol Psychiatry. 2016 Jun;21(6):844-56. doi: 10.1038/mp.2015.133. PMID:26324101 | 13.2 |
| Liver X receptor β is essential for the differentiation of radial glial cells to oligodendrocytes in the dorsal cortex. Xu P, Xu H, Tang X, Xu L, Wang Y, Guo L, Yang Z, Xing Y, Wu Y, Warner M, Gustafsson JA, Fan X.Mol Psychiatry. 2014 19(8):947-57. doi: 10.1038/mp.2014.60. PMID:24934178 | 13.2 |
| Liver X receptor β protects dopaminergic neurons in a mouse model of Parkinson disease.Dai YB, Tan XJ, Wu WF, Warner M, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Aug 7;109(32):13112-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1210833109. PMID:22826221 | 9.4 |
| Central diabetes insipidus associated with impaired renal aquaporin-1 expression in mice lacking liver X receptor β. Gabbi C, Kong X, Suzuki H, Kim HJ, Gao M, Jia X, Ohnishi H, Ueta Y, Warner M, Guan Y, Gustafsson JÅ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Feb 21;109(8):3030-4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1200588109. PMID:22323586 | 9.4 |
| Stromal growth and epithelial cell proliferation in ventral prostates of liver X receptor knockout mice.Kim HJ, Andersson LC, Bouton D, Warner M, Gustafsson JA.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jan 13;106(2):558-63. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811295106. PMID:19122149 | 9.4 |
| Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency in LXRbeta-/- mice is associated with a reduction in aquaporin-1 expression.Gabbi C, Kim HJ, Hultenby K, Bouton D, Toresson G, Warner M, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Sep 30;105(39):15052-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0808097105. PMID:18806227 | 9.4 |
| Expression of liver X receptor beta is essential for formation of superficial cortical layers and migration of later-born neurons. Fan X, Kim HJ, Bouton D, Warner M, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Sep 9;105(36):13445-50. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0806974105. PMID: | 9.4 |
| Liver X receptor beta (LXRbeta): a link between beta-sitosterol and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-Parkinson's dementia.Kim HJ, Fan X, Gabbi C, Yakimchuk K, Parini P, Warner M, Gustafsson JA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Feb 12;105(6):2094-9. doi:10.1073/pnas.0711599105. PMID:18238900 | 9.4 |