Kimberly M. Alonge
· Affiliate Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Washington · Medicinal Chemistry Graduate Program
Active 2014–2026
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About
Kimberly M. Alonge is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. Her research interests include the reorganization of perineuronal nets, chondroitin and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan sulfation patterning, glycan sequencing technology, and their implications in obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and neuropsychiatric disorders. She has a background in biology with a B.S. from Salisbury University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from West Virginia University School of Medicine. Her postdoctoral work was conducted at the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute, focusing on metabolism, endocrinology, and nutrition. Dr. Alonge's work involves translational research in neuroscience and extracellular matrix reprogramming, contributing to understanding neurocircuit regeneration, histochemical labeling of neural structures, and the molecular signatures associated with inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.
Research topics
- Cell biology
- Internal medicine
- Medicine
- Endocrinology
- Biology
- Biochemistry
- Genetics
- Chemistry
Selected publications
Cell Reports · 2021 · 70 citations
The mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH; arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus [ARH] and median eminence [ME]) is a key nutrient sensing site for the production of the complex homeostatic feedback responses required for the maintenance of energy balance. Here, we show that refeeding after an overnight fast rapidly triggers proliferation and differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitors, leading to the production of new oligodendrocytes in the ME specifically. During this nutritional paradigm, ME perineu…
Cell Reports · 2020 · 62 citations
Obesity is characterized by adipose tissue inflammation. Because proteoglycans regulate inflammation, here we investigate their role in adipose tissue inflammation in obesity. We find that adipose tissue versican and biglycan increase in obesity. Versican is produced mainly by adipocytes and biglycan by adipose tissue macrophages. Both proteoglycans are also present in adipose tissue from obese human subjects undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Deletion of adipocyte-specific versican or macrophag…
Nature Communications · 2020 · 55 citations
mice obtained on Days 1 and 5 after icv injection of either FGF1 or vehicle. A wide range of transcriptional responses to FGF1 was observed across diverse hypothalamic cell types, with glial cell types responding much more robustly than neurons at both time points. Tanycytes and ependymal cells were the most FGF1-responsive cell type at Day 1, but astrocytes and oligodendrocyte lineage cells subsequently became more responsive. Based on histochemical and ultrastructural evidence of enhanced cell…
Glycobiology · 2024-06-22 · 18 citations
articleOpen accessPerineuronal nets (PNNs) are a condensed subtype of extracellular matrix that form a net-like coverings around certain neurons in the brain. PNNs are primarily composed of chondroitin sulfate (CS) proteoglycans from the lectican family that consist of CS-glycosaminoglycan side chains attached to a core protein. CS disaccharides can exist in various isoforms with different sulfation patterns. Literature suggests that CS disaccharide sulfation patterns can influence the function of PNNs as well as…
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-09-14 · 3 citations
preprintOpen accessAbstract Brain glucose sensing is critical for survival during hypoglycaemia and tunes the level of defended blood glucose, which goes up in diabetes. Neuronal glucose sensing neurons and mechanisms have been identified, but how these neurons access blood concentrations of glucose to adjust their output and maintain glucose homeostasis is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that adult oligodendrogenesis in the median eminence (ME) is modulated by changes in circulating glucose levels and rapidly upreg…
Recent grants
MALDI imaging of glial scar-forming glycans in Alzheimers disease
NIH · $485k · 2021–2024
NIH · $1.6M · 2023–2028
Novel role of hypothalamic perineuronal nets in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes
NIH · $62k · 2019–2020
Frequent coauthors
- 46 shared
Thomas N. Wight
Benaroya Research Institute
- 38 shared
Daniel J. Pennington
- 38 shared
Priyanka Hirani
Queen Mary University of London
- 38 shared
Oliver M.T. Pearce
- 38 shared
Pedro R. Cutillas
Queen Mary University of London
- 37 shared
J. Louise Jones
Genomics England
- 37 shared
Vinothini Rajeeve
- 37 shared
Salvatore Santamaria
Education
B.S., Biology
Salisbury University
Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
West Virginia University
Other
UW Medicine Diabetes Institute, School of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition
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