Current Position:
Scientist, Navitor Pharmaceuticals
Postdoctoral Fellow:
2010 – 2016
Education:
Ph.D., 2009, Rockefeller University
B.A., 2004, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests:
Jessica is interested in using mouse models and in vitro methods to elucidate the layers of regulation that govern cellular functions, particularly those relevant to metabolic disease. She is investigating metabolic changes induced by mTOR signaling and is exploring the role of mTOR repression in ameliorating the diabetic phenotype.
Her research is supported, in part, by a fellowship from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
Publications:
Howell JJ, Hellberg K, Turner M, Talbott G, Kolar MJ, Ross DS, Hoxhaj G, Saghatelian A, Shaw RJ, Manning BD. Metformin Inhibits Hepatic mTORC1 Signaling via Dose-Dependent Mechanisms Involving AMPK and the TSC Complex. Cell Metab. 2017; 25(2):463-471. PMID: 28089566
Howell JJ, Ricoult SJ, Ben-Sahra I, Manning BD. A growing role for mTOR in promoting anabolic metabolism. Biochem Soc Trans. 2013; 41(4):906-12. PMID: 23863154
Ben-Sahra I*, Howell JJ*, Asara JM, Manning BD. Stimulation of de novo pyrimidine synthesis by growth signaling through mTOR and S6K1. Science. 2013; 339(6125):1323-8. PMID: 23429703. *Co-1st authors.
Menon S, Yecies JL, Zhang HH, Howell JJ, Nicholatos J, Harputlugil E, Bronson RT, Kwiatkowski DJ, Manning BD. Chronic activation of mTOR complex 1 is sufficient to cause hepatocellular carcinoma in mice. Sci Signal. 2012; 5(217):ra24. PMID: 22457330
Howell JJ, Manning BD. mTOR couples cellular nutrient sensing to organismal metabolic homeostasis. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2011; 22(3):94-102. PMID: 21269838
Silva JP, Howell JJ, von Meyenn F, Thorens B, Wolfrum C, Stoffel M. Regulation of adaptive behavior during fasting by hypothalamic Foxa2. Nature. 2009; 462(7273):646-50. PMID: 19956259
Howell JJ, Stoffel M. Nuclear export-independent inhibition of Foxa2 by insulin. J Biol Chem. 2009; 284(37):24816-24. PMID: 19589781
Wolfrum C, Howell JJ, Ndungo E, Stoffel M. Foxa2 Activity Increases Plasma High Density Lipoprotein Levels by Regulating Apolipoprotein M. J Biol Chem. 2008; 283(24):16940-9. PMID: 18381283
Arsham AM, Howell JJ, Simon MC. A novel hypoxia-inducible factor-independent hypoxic response regulating mammalian target of rapamycin and its targets. J Biol Chem. 2003; 278(32):29655-60. PMID: 12777372