FÜRNSINN Clemens, Ph.D.

Phone: +43 (0)1 40400 - 47850
Fax: +43 (0)1 40400 - 77900
E-Mail: clemens.fuernsinn@meduniwien.ac.at

Research Interests: Fuel Metabolism, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Pharmacology of Anti-Diabetic Drugs

Availability and metabolism of fuel substrates is essential to provide chemical energy, which is the undispensable prerequisite for every process in life. All organs take part in the homeostasis of fuel and energy resources and, accordingly, the regulation of fuel metabolism is interconnected with almost every functional cycle in physiology and is subject to modulation by countless hormones. All this makes the mechanisms regulating the homeostasis of fuel substrates an unendig research topic in the field of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition.

Scientific research in this field is additionally fueled by a steep world-wide increase in the prevalence of obesity and associated derangements of fuel metabolism, including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and lipid disorders. Against this background the understanding of physiological mechanisms, which regulate fuel handling in the lean and obese, as well as the discovery of pathways for medical intervention are among the major challenges in current medical research.

Methods & Techniques

Surgery, blood sampling and administration of agents in live rats and mice; experimental procedures for stress-free infusions and blood sampling in the unrestrained animal; functional testing of freshly isolated tissues in vitro (e.g. fuel handling by skeletal muscle; hormone release from perifused islets of Langerhans).

Selected Publications

Hackl MT, Fürnsinn C, Schuh CM, Krssak M, Carli F, Guerra S, Freudenthaler A, Baumgartner-Parzer S, Helbich TH, Luger A, Zeyda M, Gastaldelli A, Buettner C, Scherer T: Brain leptin reduces liver lipids by increasing hepatic triglyceride secretion and lowering lipogenesis. Nature Communications 10: 2717, 2019

Abu Eid S, Hackl MT, Kaplanian M, Winter MP, Kaltenecker D, Moriggl R, Luger A, Scherer T, Fürnsinn C: Life under hypoxia lowers blood glucose independently of effects on appetite and body weight in mice. Frontiers in Endocrinology 28: 490, 2018

Stadlbauer K, Brunmair B, Lehner Z, Adorjan I, Scherer T, Luger A, Bauer L, Fürnsinn C: Preclinical characterization of 55P0251, a novel compound that amplifies glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and counteracts hyperglycaemia in rodents. Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism 102: 1325-1332, 2017

Fürnsinn C, Willson TM, Brunmair B: PPAR-δ, a regulator of oxidative capacity, fuel switching, and cholesterol transport. Diabetologia 50: 8-17, 2007

Brunmair B, Staniek K, Gras F, Scharf N, Althaym A, Clara R, Roden M, Gnaiger E, Nohl H, Waldhäusl W, Fürnsinn C: Thiazolidinediones, like metformin, inhibit respiratory complex I: A common mechanism contributing to their antidiabetic actions? Diabetes 53: 1052-1059, 2004