Karl Olson, PhD
- Chair, Department of Physiology
- Michigan State University College of Medicine
- 567 Wilson Rd Room 3164
- East Lansing MI 48824
- 517-884-5116
- olsonla@msu.edu
Bio
L. Karl Olson is a professor and chair of the Department of Physiology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota Duluth and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He joined the faculty at MSU’s Department of Physiology in 1995. Before being chair, he served as the director of the undergraduate program and interim chair.
Dr. Olson's work is in molecular endocrinology. Specifically, his work centers around the chemical-induced alterations of the regulation of pancreatic islet ß cell physiology and signal transduction. His research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms by which chronic exposure of pancreatic islets to elevated glucose and lipid concentrations adversely alter pancreatic beta cell function – the so-called glucolipotoxicity hypothesis.
Early on his team identified that chronic exposure of pancreatic ß cell lines to elevated glucose concentrations decreases insulin biosynthesis by decreasing the rate of insulin gene transcription. The decrease in insulin gene transcription results from a defect in the binding of two transcription factors that are essential to insulin gene transcription. They also demonstrated that there was a marked change in expression of genes involved in de novo lipogenesis. Modulation of these pathways were shown to protect ß cells from glucolipotoxicity.
Dr. Olson’s current work focuses on changes in pancreatic islet lipid metabolism that are associated with early stages of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. From this work his team has identified a biomarker that appears to be predictive of islet autoimmunity in individuals at risk of type 1 diabetes.