Kasey C. Vickers, PhD

The central goal of the Vickers lab is to discover gene regulatory modules that can be manipulated to prevent and treat cardiometabolic diseases. Specifically, our lab investigates microRNAs and other small RNA (sRNA)-mediated gene regulation in cholesterol, glucose, lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. Many projects in the lab aim to determine the biochemical mechanisms underlying sRNA intercellular communication in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Current and future projects include identifying which cells/tissues export sRNAs to lipoproteins (HDL and LDL), how lipoprotein sRNA signatures are altered in disease, and which cells/tissues take up lipoprotein sRNAs. More focused projects include determining how sRNAs are selected for export, the mechanisms of cellular export, and how they regulate genes in recipient cells. Most importantly, we aim to determine the biological impact of these cell-to-cell networks in disease and target gene regulatory modules to treat and prevent disease. Due to the applicability of intercellular communication across many diseases, projects in the lab span dyslipidemias, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus. A new area of research in the lab is cross-kingdom gene regulation and how bacteria-derived sRNAs circulating on lipoproteins regulate genes in human cells.

Publications on