Research Interests
- Systems biology; molecular nutrition; genomics; metabolomics; bioinformatics; nutritional programming of adipose tissue; mammary gland development; lipid metabolism; conjugated linoleic acids (CLA); nutritional and physiological genomics; comparative genomics; regulation of milk fat and protein synthesis; nutritional regulation of muscle development.My research program focuses on the study of how nutrition, physiological state and their interaction affect tissue function and metabolic adaptations through alterations in the transcriptome, i.e. mRNA expression profiles. We rely heavily on cutting-edge technologies such as microarrays, DNA sequencing, quantitative RT-PCR, and bioinformatics to generate biologically-meaningful data. The integration of these data sets is at the core of our Systems Biology efforts in Nutritional Sciences. We use large animals as primary models but also perform more fundamental studies with animal tissue cell lines or explant cultures. Through the use of high-throughput techniques and bioinformatics we intend to identify genes that might be associated with susceptibility to immune and metabolic diseases (e.g. hepatic steatosis, mastitis) and also to developing obesity.
Education
- Ph.D., 2001, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
- M.S., 1997, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
- B.S., 1995, University of California, Davis
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Animal Sciences
Professor, Nutritional Sciences
Recent Publications
Alharthi, A. S., Coleman, D. N., Alhidary, I. A., Abdelrahman, M. M., Trevisi, E., & Loor, J. J. (2021). Maternal body condition during late-pregnancy is associated with in utero development and neonatal growth of Holstein calves. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 12(1), [44]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-021-00566-2
Bucktrout, R. E., Ma, N., Aboragah, A., Alharthi, A. S., Liang, Y., Lopreiato, V., Lopes, M. G., Trevisi, E., Alhidary, I. A., Fernandez, C., & Loor, J. J. (2021). One-carbon, carnitine, and glutathione metabolism-related biomarkers in peripartal Holstein cows are altered by prepartal body condition. Journal of Dairy Science, 104(3), 3403-3417. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2020-19402
Chen, Z., Liang, Y., Lu, Q. Y., Nazar, M., Mao, Y., Aboragah, A., Yang, Z., & Loor, J. J. (2021). Cadmium promotes apoptosis and inflammation via the circ08409/miR-133a/TGFB2 axis in bovine mammary epithelial cells and mouse mammary gland. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 222, [112477]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112477
Chen, Y., Tang, Y., Luo, S., Jia, H., Xu, Q., Chang, R., Dong, Z., Gao, S., Song, Q., Dong, H., Wang, X., Li, Z., Aboragah, A., Loor, J. J., Xu, C., & Sun, X. (2021). Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 protects bovine mammary epithelial cells against free fatty acid-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in vitro. Journal of Dairy Science, 104(12), 12830-12844. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2021-20732
Coleman, D. N., Alharthi, A. S., Liang, Y., Lopes, M. G., Lopreiato, V., Vailati-Riboni, M., & Loor, J. J. (2021). Multifaceted role of one-carbon metabolism on immunometabolic control and growth during pregnancy, lactation and the neonatal period in dairy cattle. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 12(1), [27]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-021-00547-5