Karen Chapman

Personal Chair of Molecular Endocrinology

Centre for Cardiovascular Science

Tel: 0131 242 6736
Email: Karen.Chapman@ed.ac.uk

Street: Queen's Medical Research Institute
47 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh BioQuarter
City: Edinburgh
Post code: EH16 4TJ

Research

Research summary

Karen Chapman: Glucocorticoid action Research in my lab is focussed on the actions of glucocorticoids - steroid hormones that play key roles in stress, inflammatory and other homeostatic responses, and developmentally, in maturing the fetus ready for life after birth.

Projects:

Developmental effects of glucocorticoids: fetal programming For over 50 years we have known that glucocorticoids are essential in late gestation for fetal lung maturation and life beyond birth: hence, potent synthetic glucocorticoids are administered to pregnant women at risk of preterm delivery. Whilst previously assumed to be completely safe, considerable evidence now suggests that excessive fetal exposure is not as harm-free as previously assumed. We discovered a role for endogenous glucocorticoid action in maturing the fetal heart. We are now investigating the mechanisms, including whether glucocorticoid action in the perinatal period determines cardiomyocyte endowment in adulthood. We are also testing the effects of precocious activation of glucocorticoid receptors upon fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, heart function and survival.

11beta-HSD1 in the immuno-modulatory and metabolic effects of glucocorticoids A key level of control over glucocorticoid action is their metabolism by the 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSD) enzymes. Work from Edinburgh has established the important role played by 11beta-HSD1 in the immune-modulating, anti-inflammatory and metabolic effects of glucocorticoids. We are now focussing on novel aspects of 11beta-HSD1, including how it shapes immune and inflammatory responses via metabolic switches and its role in bile acid homeostasis.

Research activities

Let's Talk About Health and Disease public lecture series 2019-2020 Oct 2019 to Mar 2020
Let's Talk About Health and Disease public lecture series 2018-2019 Oct 2018 to Mar 2019
Let's Talk About Health and Disease Nov 2017 to Mar 2018
Edinburgh Medical School Public Lecture Series 2016-2017 16 Nov 2016

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Publications

Glucocorticoids regulate mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation in fetal cardiomyocytes 10 Sep 2021 In: The Journal of Physiology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1113/JP281860
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
The ratio of ursodeoxycholyltaurine to 7-oxolithocholyltaurine serves as a biomarker of decreased 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 activity in mouse 15 Jan 2021 In: British Journal of Pharmacology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15367
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
Endocrine aspects of ACE2 regulation: RAAS, steroid hormones and SARS-Cov-2 Nov 2020 In: Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 247, pp. R45–R62
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-20-0260
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Reciprocal Regulation of HSD11B1 and HSD11B2 Predicts Glucocorticoid Sensitivity in Childhood ALL May 2020 In: Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 220, pp. 249-253
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.12.054
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Quantitative analysis of 11-dehydrocorticosterone and corticosterone for preclinical studies by liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry 2 Nov 2019 In: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8610
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Peripheral glucocorticoid signaling in Kawasaki disease 26 Jun 2019 In: Pediatric Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0481-x
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Letter (Published)
Antenatal dexamethasone treatment transiently alters diastolic function in the mouse fetal heart 23 Apr 2019 In: Journal of Endocrinology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-18-0666
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
Corticosteroid receptor balance regulates life and death in cardiomyocytes 16 Apr 2019 In: Science Signaling
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scisignal.aaw8715
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (Published)
Adrenal hormones mediate disease tolerance in malaria (18 pages) 30 Oct 2018 In: Nature Communications, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06986-5
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Renal and Blood Pressure Response to a High-Salt Diet in Mice With Reduced Global Expression of the Glucocorticoid Receptor 9 Jul 2018 In: Frontiers in physiology, vol. 9, pp. 848
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00848
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Glucocorticoids, antenatal corticosteroid therapy and fetal heart maturation 1 Jul 2018 In: Journal of molecular endocrinology, vol. 61, pp. R61-R73
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JME-18-0077
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published)
11Beta‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase‐1 deficiency or inhibition enhances hepatic myofibroblast activation in murine liver fibrosis (15 pages) 21 May 2018 In: Hepatology, vol. 67, pp. 2167-2181
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.29734
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 deficiency alters brain energy metabolism in acute systemic inflammation 21 Nov 2017 In: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2017.11.015
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 has no effect on survival during experimental malaria but affects parasitemia in a parasite strain-specific manner 23 Oct 2017 In: Scientific Reports
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14288-x
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
Macrophage 11β-HSD1 deficiency promotes inflammatory angiogenesis 4 Jul 2017 In: Journal of Endocrinology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-17-0223
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
11β-HSD1 suppresses cardiac fibroblast CXCL2, CXCL5 and neutrophil recruitment to the heart post MI (13 pages) 1 Jun 2017 In: Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 233, pp. 315-327
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-16-0501
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Glucocorticoid receptor alters isovolumetric contraction and restrains cardiac fibrosis Mar 2017 In: Journal of Endocrinology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-16-0458
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 deficiency alters the gut microbiome response to western diet Feb 2017 In: Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 232, pp. 273-283
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-16-0578
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Getting to the heart of intracellular glucocorticoid regeneration: 11β-HSD1 in the myocardium (13 pages) 1 Jan 2017 In: Journal of molecular endocrinology, vol. 58, pp. R1-R13
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/JME-16-0128
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
A novel role for the mineralocorticoid receptor in glucocorticoid driven vascular calcification Nov 2016 In: Vascular pharmacology, vol. 86, pp. 87-93
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vph.2016.04.005
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)

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This article was published on 23 Sep, 2023

Karen Chapman

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