Troy Hornberger

thornb1@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu

Department of Comparative Biosciences
Office: 4256

Education

• Assc. in Chemistry, Lake Superior State University, 1996
• B.S. in Biology, Lake Superior State University, 1996
• M.A. in Kinesiology, University of Texas at Austin, 1999
• Ph.D. in Kinesiology, University of Illinois-Chicago, 2004

Research

My overall research interest is to determine how skeletal muscles sense mechanical information and convert this stimulus into the molecular events that regulate changes in muscle mass. This interest has led me to study a protein kinase called the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Signaling by mTOR is necessary for mechanically-induced growth of skeletal muscle, and I have recently determined that mechanical stimuli activate mTOR signaling through a unique mechanism involving phospholipase D and the lipid second messenger phosphatidic acid (PLD→PA→mTOR). Based on this observation, my lab has focused on three projects which are all aimed at further defining how mechanical stimuli activate the PLD→PA→mTOR pathway and skeletal muscle growth.  

•  Live Cell Imaging of Mechanically-Induced Signaling Events
• Defining the Mechanically-Induced PLD→PA→mTOR Signaling Pathway
• Identification of  Molecules that Regulate Skeletal Muscle Growth / Atrophy

To learn more about these projects, please visit the lab website:

HORNBERGER LAB

Responsibilities

Assistant Professor

• Principles of Vertebrate Physiology

Graduate Training

•    Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
•    Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology
•   Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Training Program

Recent Publications

You JS, Frey JW, and Hornberger TA.  Mechanical Stimulation and Phosphatidic Acid Induce mTOR Signaling via an ERK-independent Mechanism. PLoS One, 2012 Oct 15:7(10):e47258.

Goodman CA, Miu MH, Frey JW, Mabrey DM, Lincoln HC, Ge Y, Chen J, Hornberger TA.   A PI3K/PKB-Independent Activation of mTOR Signaling Is Sufficient to Induce Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy. Mol Biol Cell. 2010 Sep;21(18):3258-68.

Goodman CA, Mabrey D, Frey JW, Miu MH, Schmidt EK, Pierre P, and Hornberger TA.  Novel Insights into the Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis as Revealed by a New Non-Radioactive In-Vivo Technique. FASEB J., 2011 Mar;25(3):1028-39

Goodman CA, Frey JW, Mabrey DM, Jacobs BL, Lincoln HC, You JS, and Hornberger TA.  The Role of Skeletal Muscle mTOR in the Regulation of Mechanical Load-Induced Growth. J. Physiol, 2011 Nov 15;589(Pt 22):5485-501.

O'Neil TK, Duffy LR, Frey JW and Hornberger TA. The Role of Phosphoinositide 3-kinase and Phosphatidic Acid in the Regulation of mTOR following Eccentric Contractions. J. Physiol. 2009 May 26. [Epub ahead of print]