Jennifer Teske, PhD

Associate Professor
Director, Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program
Director, Research
School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness

Shantz 332

520-621-3081
teskeja@arizona.edu
Pronouns:
she, her, hers

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

  • Post-Doctoral – Neuroregulation of physical activity, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
  • Ph.D., Nutritional Biochemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
  • M.A., Exercise Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
  • B.S., Biology, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

Other Academic Activities

  • Research Health Scientist – Minneapolis VA Health Care System

RESEARCH & INTERESTS

My research program seeks to elucidate neural mechanisms and dietary factors regulating weight gain associated with abnormal sleep in rodent models. Clarifying the role of orexin, an integrative endogenous neuropeptide, in mediating weight gain due to disrupted sleep is at the forefront of these studies. While the primary goal is to quantify the energetic cost of and temporal relationship between bouts of sleep, physical activity and feeding, establishing the therapeutic efficacy of centrally administered orexin on body weight gain in paramount. These studies are performed by concurrently measuring sleep, physical activity, feeding and energy expenditure in free-living rodents in vivo with high-resolution sensors. Small changes in body composition often precede observable changes in body weight and are clinically significant. Therefore, the laboratory also seeks to investigate the feasibility of a 7T-MRI to quantify whole body composition and brain imaging during central orexin delivery in vivo in collaboration with the University of Arizona Biological Magnetic Resonance Facility.

Research in Progress

  • Brain mechanisms in sleep and obesity
  • Dietary factors mitigating reduced sleep-associated obesity
  • Feasibility of rat body composition in the Bruker Biospec 7T MRIs
  • Brain response to orexin A in rodents using 7T MRI imaging
  • Development of novel therapeutic modalities to deliver neuropeptides

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Teske JA, Perez-Leighton C, Billington CJ and Kotz CM. Methodological considerations for measuring spontaneous physical activity in rodents. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 306(10): R714-21. 2014. Epub 2014 Mar 5.
  • Teske JA, Billington CJ and Kotz CM. Mechanisms underlying obesity resistance associated with high spontaneous physical activity. Neuroscience. 256: 91-100. 2013. Epub 2013 Oct. 22.
  • Teske JA, Perez-Leighton C, Billington CJ and Kotz CM. Role of the locus coerulues in enhanced orexin A-induced spontaneous physical activity in obesity resistant rats. American Journal of Physiology Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 305: R1337-R1345. 2013. Epub 2013 Oct. 2.
  • Mavanji V*, Teske JA*, Billington CJ and Kotz CM. Partial sleep deprivation by environmental noise increases food intake and body weight in obesity resistant rats. Obesity (Silver Spring). 21(7):1296-405, 2013.  Epub 2013 May 13.
  • McNay EC, Teske JA, Kotz CM, Dunn-Meynell A, Levin B, McCrimmon RJ and Sherwin RS. Long-term, intermittent, insulin-induced hypoglycemia produces marked obesity in the absence of hyperphagia or insulin resistance: a model for weight gain associated with intensive insulin therapy. American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism. 304(2):E131-8, 2013. Epub 2012 Nov 20.
  • Perez-Leighton CE, Boland, K, Teske JA, Billington CJ and Kotz CM. Behavioral responses to orexin, orexin receptor gene expression and intrinsic physical activity contribute to individual sensitivity to obesity. American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism. 303(7):E865-E874, 2012. Epub 2012 Jul 24.
  • Kotz CM, Nixon JA, Perez-Leighton CE, Butterick-Peterson TA, Teske JA and Billington CJ. Brain orexin promotes obesity resistance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1264(1):72-86, 2012. Epub 2012 Jul 17.
  • Mavanji V*, Teske JA*, Billington CJ, and Kotz CM. Sleep and Obesity: a focus on animal models.  Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Review. 36(3): 1015-1029, 2012. Epub 2012 Jan 16.
  • Nixon JP, Kotz CM, Novak CM, Billington CJ and Teske JA. Neuropeptides controlling energy balance: orexins and neuromedins. In: Appetite Control. Series in Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. Springer-Verlag Inc, Berlin, Heidelberg. Edited by H.G. Joost, Volume 209, pp. 77-109, 2012.
  • Teske JA, Billington CJ, Kuskowski M and Kotz CM. Spontaneous physical activity protects against fat mass gain. International Journal of Obesity. 36(4): 603-613, 2012. Epub 2011 May 24.
  • Mavanji V*, Teske JA*, Billington CJ, and Kotz CM. Elevated sleep quality and orexin receptor mRNA in obesity resistant rats. International Journal of Obesity 34: 1576-1577, 2010. Epub 2010 May 25.
  • Teske JA, Billington CJ and Kotz CM. Hypocretin/Orexin and energy expenditure. Acta Physiologica. 198(3): 303-312, 2010. Epub 2010 Jan 12.
  • Teske JA and Kotz CM. Effect of acute and chronic caloric restriction and metabolic glucoprivation on spontaneous physical activity in obesity prone and obesity resistant rats. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 297(1): R176-184, 2009. Epub 2009 May 6.
  • Perry C, Pravetoni M, Teske JA, Aguado C, Erickson DJ, Medrano JF, Luján R, Kotz CM and Wickman K. Predisposition to late-onset obesity in GIRK4 knockout mice. Proceeding of the National Academy of Science. 105(23): 8148-53, 2008. Epub 2008 Jun 3.
  • Kotz CM, Teske JA and Billington CJ. Neuroregulation of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) and obesity resistance. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 294(3): R699-710, 2008. Epub 2007 Dec 26.
  • Teske JA, Kotz CM and Billington CJ. Neuropeptidergic mediators of spontaneous physical activity and non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Neuroendocrinology. 87(2): 71-90, 2008. Epub 2007 Nov 5.
  • Kotz CM, Wang C, Teske JA, Thorpe AJ, Novak C, Kiwaki K and Levine JA. Orexin A mediation of time spent moving in rats: neural mechanisms. Neuroscience. 142(1): 29-36, 2006. Epub 2006 Jun 30.
  • Teske JA, Levine AS, Kuskowski M, Levine JA and Kotz CM. Elevated hypothalamic orexin signaling, sensitivity to orexin A and spontaneous physical activity in obesity resistant rats. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 291(4): R889-99, 2006. Epub 2006 Jun 8.
  • Thorpe AJ, Teske JA and Kotz CM. Orexin A induced feeding is augmented by caloric challenge. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 289(2): R367-72, 2005. Epub 2005 Jun 9.
  • Novak CM, Jiang X, Wang C, Teske JA, Kotz CM and Levine JA. Caloric restriction and physical activity in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Neuroscience Letters. 383: 99-104, 2005. Epub 2005 Apr 20.
  • Kotz CM, Teske JA, Levine JA and Wang C. Feeding and activity induced by orexin A in the lateral hypothalamus in rats. Regulatory Peptides. 104: 27-32, 2002.