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Woman and Diabetes

Most patients and particularly women with type-2 diabetes mellitus develop cardiovascular disease with substantial loss of life expectancy. Nonfatal cardiovascular disease contributes greatly to healthcare costs and decreased quality of life in patients with diabetes. Atherogenic dyslipidemia, high blood sugar and obesity are key contributors in people with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes and is one of the strongest and independent predictors for cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, the early stages of type-2 diabetes mellitus often go unrecognized, worsening the situation. People with obesity, particularly those referred to as ‘metabolically healthy obese,’ have a substantially higher risk of developing diabetes and its complications. This highlights that the current diagnostic methods are inadequate for capturing the heterogeneity seen in patient presentations, disease course, and response to therapy.

Our mission is to close this knowledge-gap by developing precise diagnostic tools and identifying novel and non-traditional biomarkers and treatment targets to monitor and preserve cardio-metabolic health on an individual basis using a wide range of techniques spanning biophysical chemistry, molecular biology, protein biochemistry, cell biology, multiomics and animal physiology in three metabolically important tissues.

1. Skeletal muscle and intermuscular fat (IMAT): known as a critical driver for cardio-metabolic disease and diabetes, IMAT increases with aging at an accelerated rate in men and women with diabetes. We are conducting in-depth molecular metabolic profiling of skeletal muscle and IMAT using state-of-the-art techniques such as spatial multiomics, functional microscopy, and mitochondrial bioenergetics to create an individual and  detailed molecular environment profile. This profile will be correlated with the novel non-invasive imaging technique MSOT and MIROM, a photoacoustic microscopy assessment of tissue composition, to develop a non-invasive diagnostic tool for accurately assessing metabolic disease states and the impact of lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise.

2. Circulating immune cells: chronic conditions like obesity and insulin resistance induce functional changes in immune cells, especially monocytes and T-lymphocytes, increasing their pro-inflammatory profiles. We hypothesize that certain immune cell features could potentially be used to identify non-traditional biomarkers to monitor cardio-metabolic disease and treatment response on an individual basis.

3. Central Nervous System (CNS): Specific brain regions play a crucial role in regulating major metabolic processes and cardiovascular functions. We explore neuroendocrine mechanisms that may contribute to the development of cardiometabolic diseases, aiming to uncover new therapeutic targets.

By advancing our understanding in these key areas, we strive to improve the quality of life and life expectancy for individuals with type-2 diabetes mellitus, ultimately reducing the healthcare costs associated with nonfatal cardiovascular diseases.

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Who we are

Porträt Susanna Hofmann
Prof. Dr. med. Susanna Hofmann

Independent Group Leader "Women and Diabetes" (IDR-H)

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Porträt Sonja Frevel
Sonja Frevel

Personal Assistant IDR-H, budget and project coordinator

Porträt Marc Walter
Dr. Marc Walter

Scientific Manager and Coordinator IDR-H

Porträt Sebastian Cucuruz
Sebastian Cucuruz

TA

Porträt Sophia Dinges
Sophia Dinges

PhD Student

Porträt Yaqi Sun
Yaqi Sun

PhD Student

Porträt Thomas Worring
Thomas Worring

TA

Porträt Robby Tom
Dr. Robby Zachariah Tom

Post Doc

Porträt Shiqi Zhang
Shiqi Zhang

PhD Student

Porträt Sini Joseph
Sini Susan Joseph

Postdoc

Porträt Yao Zhang
Yao Zhang

PhD Student - Woman and Diabetes

Publications

EMBO J. 44, 5037-5065 (2025)

Singh, I. ; Onogi, Y. ; Cardoso Micu Menezes, F.M. ; Khasanova, D. ; Kang, L. ; Wang, C. ; Ruiz-Trave, J. ; Sharma, S. ; Khalil, A. ; Reichenbach, V.K. ; Shi, Y. ; Flatley, A. ; Yan, X. ; Israel, A. ; Dragano, N.R.V. ; Aguilar-Pimentel, J.A. ; Hoffmann, A. ; Ghosh, A. ; Noé, F. ; Wolfrum, C. ; Cucuruz, S. ; König, A.-C. ; Burtscher, I. ; Hauck, S.M. ; Lickert, H. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Feederle, R. ; Schriever, S.C. ; Hernandez-Bautista, R. ; Sancar, G. ; Cebrian Serrano, A. ; Tetko, I.V. ; Fuchs, H. ; Gailus-Durner, V. ; Blüher, M. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Ussar, S.

NRAC controls CD36-mediated fatty acid uptake in adipocytes and lipid clearance in vivo.
Cardiovasc. Diabetol. 23:341 (2024)

Sachs, S. ; Götz, A. ; Finan, B. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; DiMarchi, R.D. ; Döring, Y. ; Weber, C. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Müller, T.D. ; Hofmann, S.M.

Correction: GIP receptor agonism improves dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis independently of body weight loss in preclinical mouse model for cardio-metabolic disease.
Photoacoustics 38:100628 (2024)

Huang, S. ; He, H. ; Tom, R.Z. ; Glasl, S. ; Anzenhofer,P. ; Stiel, A.-C. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Ntziachristos, V.

Non-invasive optoacoustic imaging of dermal microcirculatory revascularization in diet-induced obese mice undergoing exercise intervention.
Mol. Metab. 83:101915 (2024)

Akindehin, S.E. ; Liskiewicz, A. ; Liskiewicz, D. ; Bernecker, M. ; García-Cáceres, C. ; Drucker, D.J. ; Finan, B. ; Grandl, G. ; Gutgesell, R.M. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Khalil, A. ; Liu, X. ; Cota, P. ; Bakhti, M. ; Czarnecki, O. ; Bastidas-Ponce, A. ; Lickert, H. ; Kang, L. ; Maity-Kumar, G. ; Novikoff, A. ; Parlee, S. ; Pathak, E. ; Schriever, S.C. ; Sterr, M. ; Ussar, S. ; Zhang, Q. ; DiMarchi, R. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Pfluger, P.T. ; Douros, J.D. ; Müller, T.D.

Loss of GIPR in LEPR cells impairs glucose control by GIP and GIP:GLP-1 co-agonism without affecting body weight and food intake in mice.
Nat. Metab. 5, 2075–2085 (2023)

Liskiewicz, A. ; Khalil, A. ; Liskiewicz, D. ; Novikoff, A. ; Grandl, G. ; Maity-Kumar, G. ; Gutgesell, R.M. ; Bakhti, M. ; Bastidas-Ponce, A. ; Czarnecki, O. ; Makris, K. ; Lickert, H. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; Tost, M. ; Coupland, C. ; Ständer, L. ; Akindehin, S.E. ; Prakash, S. ; Abrar, F. ; Castelino, R.L. ; He, Y. ; Knerr, P.J. ; Yang, B. ; Hogendorf, W.F.J. ; Zhang, S. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Finan, B. ; DiMarchi, R.D. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Douros, J.D. ; Müller, T.D.

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide regulates body weight and food intake via GABAergic neurons in mice.
Cell Metab. 35, 1736-1751.e7 (2023)

Becker, M. ; Joseph, S.S. ; Garcia-Carrizo, F. ; Tom, R.Z. ; Opaleva, D. ; Serr, I. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Schulz, T. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Daniel, C.

Regulatory T cells require IL6 receptor alpha signaling to control skeletal muscle function and regeneration.
Cardiovasc. Diabetol. 22:217 (2023)

Sachs, S. ; Götz, A. ; Finan, B. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; DiMarchi, R.D. ; Döring, Y. ; Weber, C. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Müller, T.D. ; Hofmann, S.M.

GIP receptor agonism improves dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis independently of body weight loss in preclinical mouse model for cardio-metabolic disease.
EMBO Rep. 24:e55981 (2023)

Alfaro, A.J. ; Dittner, C. ; Becker, J. ; Loft, A. ; Mhamane, A. ; Maida, A. ; Georgiadi, A. ; Tsokanos, F.-F. ; Klepac, K. ; Molocea, C.-E. ; El-Merahbi, R. ; Motzler, K. ; Geppert, J. ; Karikari, R.A. ; Szendrödi, J. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Karaca, S. ; Urlaub, H. ; Berriel Diaz, M. ; Melchior, F. ; Herzig, S.

Fasting-sensitive SUMO-switch on Prox1 controls hepatic cholesterol metabolism.
Diabetologia 66, 873-883 (2023)

Lutter, D. ; Sachs, S. ; Walter, M.C. ; Kerege, A. ; Perreault, L. ; Kahn, D.E. ; Wolide, A.D. ; Kleinert, M. ; Bergman, B.C. ; Hofmann, S.M.

Skeletal muscle and intermuscular adipose tissue gene expression profiling identifies new biomarkers with prognostic significance for insulin resistance progression and intervention response.
Photoacoustics 29:100454 (2023)

Fasoula, N.-A. ; Karlas, A. ; Prokopchuk, O. ; Katsouli, N. ; Bariotakis, M. ; Liapis, E. ; Götz, A. ; Kallmayer, M. ; Reber, J. ; Novotny, A. ; Friess, H. ; Ringelhan, M. ; Schmid, R. ; Eckstein, H.H. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Ntziachristos, V.

Non-invasive multispectral optoacoustic tomography resolves intrahepatic lipids in patients with hepatic steatosis.
Front. Endocrin. 14:1136997 (2023)

Ali, H. ; Abu-Farha, M. ; Hofmann, S.M.

Editorial: COVID-19 and diabetes, volume II.
Mol. Metab. 66:101616 (2022)

Maity-Kumar, G. ; Ständer, L. ; de Angelis, M. ; Lee, S. ; Molenaar, A. ; Becker, L. ; Garrett, L. ; Amarie, O.V. ; Hölter, S.M. ; Wurst, W. ; Fuchs, H. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; Gailus-Durner, V. ; García-Cáceres, C. ; Othman, A.E. ; Brockmann, C. ; Schöffling, V.I. ; Beiser, K. ; Krude, H. ; Mroz, P.A. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Tuckermann, J. ; DiMarchi, R.D. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Pfluger, P.T. ; Müller, T.D.

Validation of Mct8/Oatp1c1 dKO mice as a model organism for the Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome.
Nat. Metab. 4, 1071-1083 (2022)

Quarta, C. ; Stemmer, K. ; Novikoff, A. ; Yang, B. ; Klingelhuber, F. ; Harger, A. ; Bakhti, M. ; Bastidas-Ponce, A. ; Baugé, E. ; Campbell, J.E. ; Capozzi, M.E. ; Clemmensen, C. ; Collden, G. ; Cota, P. ; Douros, J. ; Drucker, D.J. ; Dubois, B. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; García-Cáceres, C. ; Grandl, G. ; Hennuyer, N. ; Herzig, S. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Knerr, P.J. ; Kulaj, K. ; Lalloyer, F. ; Lickert, H. ; Liskiewicz, A. ; Liskiewicz, D. ; Maity-Kumar, G. ; Perez-Tilve, D. ; Prakash, S. ; Sanchez-Garrido, M.A. ; Zhang, Q. ; Staels, B. ; Krahmer, N. ; DiMarchi, R.D. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Finan, B. ; Müller, T.D.

GLP-1-mediated delivery of tesaglitazar improves obesity and glucose metabolism in male mice.
Front. Endocrin. 13:933562 (2022)

Abu-Farha, M. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Ali, H.

Editorial: Covid-19 and diabetes.
EMBO Mol. Med. 13:e13490 (2021)

Huang, S. ; Blutke, A. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; Klemm, U. ; Tom, R.Z. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Stiel, A.C. ; Ntziachristos, V.

Functional multispectral optoacoustic tomography imaging of hepatic steatosis development in mice.
Neuroendocrinology 111, 263-272 (2021)

Maya-Monteiro, C.M. ; Corrêa-da-Silva, F. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Hesselink, M.K.C. ; la Fleur, S.E. ; Yi, C.X.

Lipid droplets accumulate in the hypothalamus of mice and humans with and without metabolic diseases.
Cell Metab. 33, 833-844.e5 (2021)

Zhang, Q. ; Delessa, C.T. ; Augustin, R. ; Bakhti, M. ; Collden, G. ; Drucker, D.J. ; Feuchtinger, A. ; García-Cáceres, C. ; Grandl, G. ; Harger, A. ; Herzig, S. ; Hofmann, S.M. ; Holleman, C.L. ; Jastroch, M. ; Keipert, S. ; Kleinert, M. ; Knerr, P.J. ; Kulaj, K. ; Legutko, B. ; Lickert, H. ; Liu, X. ; Luippold, G. ; Lutter, D. ; Malogajski, E. ; Tarquis Medina, M. ; Mowery, S.A. ; Blutke, A. ; Perez-Tilve, D. ; Salinno, C. ; Sehrer, L. ; DiMarchi, R.D. ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Stemmer, K. ; Finan, B. ; Wolfrum, C. ; Müller, T.D.

The glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) regulates body weight and food intake via CNS-GIPR signaling.

Contact

Porträt Sonja Frevel
Sonja Frevel

Personal Assistant IDR-H, budget and project coordinator

Campus Neuherberg, building 3620, room 034