Li Laboratory

Welcome to the Li Lab

Focus in my research program is to understand the role of fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) in regulating immune cell metabolism in chronic inflammation, obesity and cancer development. FABPs constitute a family of small, highly homologous intracellular lipid chaperones that have been recognized as central regulators of both metabolic and inflammatory pathways. We have shown that adipose FABP (A-FABP) and epidermal FABP (E-FABP) play important roles in multiple inflammatory disease and tumor models.

However, the exact mechanisms underlying FABP-mediated lipid metabolism in immune cells remain to be determined. Currently, research in my laboratory strives to understand how FABPs, including A-FABP and E-FABP, regulate lipid metabolism and intracellular signal transduction pathways in different immune cells, to determine the mechanisms by which FABPs link lipid metabolism and complex diseases (obesity, chronic inflammation and breast cancer prevention/development), and to screen specific small molecular regulators and neutralizing antibodies in modification of FABP activities for potential clinical applications.

Research Projects Selected Publications