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Institute of Metabolic Science

Metabolic Research Laboratories
 

Research Interests 

Our principal research interests are in genetic and molecular endocrinology, with particular emphasis on disorders nuclear hormone synthesis and action. We study Resistance to Thyroid Hormone due to defective thyroid hormone receptor beta or alpha.  Candidate gene and whole exome approaches are used to identify novel genetic aetiologies mediating defective hormone action.  Human phenotypic studies elucidate mechanisms whereby thyroid hormones alter physiological processes acting via receptor subtypes in tissues.  In a multisystem selenoprotein deficiency disorder including thyroid deiodinase enzymes, we are investigating features (cardiovascular, metabolic, photosensitivity) attributable to elevated ROS and the roles of selenoproteins of unknown function.  Finally, we translate our research into technologies (biochemical, genetic) that comprise an internationally renowned diagnostic laboratory service, develop biomarkers of hormone action and trial therapies (e.g. selective thyromimetics) that are applicable to commoner forms of thyroid dysfunction or other metabolic disorders. 

Public engagement

Together with the British Thyroid Foundation we have developed materials that inform patients, caregivers and health professionals about Resistance to Thyroid Hormone.

BTF webinar - 'Meet the experts webinar on thyroid disease and wellbeing'

Videos on Resistance to Thyroid Hormone beta

 

Story of a patient with Resistance to Thyroid Hormone alpha identified via 100,000 Genomes Project and how Genomics England Newborn Genomes programme could identify and treat his condition from birth

Genetic diagnosis

We have developed new diagnostics for genetic disorders associated with elevated thyroid hormones and an NHS Gene Panel is now available for use by physicians in the UK (R182). 

I direct the Cambridge Clinical Research Centre, comprising several units and clinical research facilities within which virtually all experimental medicine and translational research on the Biomedical campus, is conducted. 

It is a privilege to direct the PhD for Health Professionals programme which trains health professionals researchers and future research leaders. 


Group Members 

Mrs Teresa Wallman - Secretary - tdw30 at medschl.cam.ac.uk  

Dr Maura Agostini, Research Associate  - ma239 at cam.ac.uk  

Mrs Greta Lyons, Research Nurse - gl348 at medschl.cam.ac.uk  

Mrs Odelia Rajanayagam, Senior Research Technician  - or203@cam.ac.uk  

Dr Carla Moran, Collaborator  


Funding 

Wellcome  

NIHR Biomedical Research Centre 

 

Publications

Key publications: 

Persani L, Rodien P, Moran C, Visser WE, Groeneweg S, Peeters R, Refetoff S, Gurnell M, Beck-Peccoz P, Chatterjee K. 2024 European Thyroid Association guidelines on diagnosis and management of disorders of thyroid hormone transport, metabolism and action. European Thyroid Journal (2024) 13:e240125. PMID: 38963712 

Moran C, Schoenmakers N, Halsall D, Oddy S, Lyons G, van den Berg S, Gurnell M, Chatterjee K. Approach to the patient with raised thyroid hormones and non-suppressed TSH. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2024) 109:1094-1108. PMID: 37988295 

Lockhart SM, Muso M, Zvetkova I, Lam BYH, Ferrari A, Schoenmakers E, Duckett K, Leslie J, Romartinez-Alonso B, Tadross J, Jia R, Gardner EJ, Kentistou K, Zhao Y, Day F, Morseburg A, Rainbow K, Rimmington D, Mastantuoni M, Harrison J, Nus M, Guma’a K, Sherratt-Mayhew S, Jiang X, Smith KR, Paul DS, Jenkins B, Koullman A, Pietzner M, Langenberg C, Wareham N, Yeo GS, Chatterjee K, Schwabe J, Oakley F, Mann D, Tontonoz P, Coll T, Ong K, Perry JRB, O’Rahilly S. Damaging mutations in LXRa uncouple lipogenesis from hepatotoxicity and implicate hepatic cholesterol sensing in human liver health.  Nature Metabolism (2024)6:1922-1938. PMID: 39322746

Schoenmakers E, Marelli F, Jorgensen HF, Visser WEV, Moran C, Groeneweg S, Avalos C, Jurgens SJ, Figg N, Finigan A, Wali N, Agostini M, Wardle-Jones H, Lyons G, Rusk R, Gopalan D, Twiss P, Visser J, Goddard M, Nashef S, Heijmen R, Clift P, Sinha S, Pirruccello JP, Ellinor PT, Busch-Nentwich E, Ramirez-Solis R, Persani L, Bennett M, Chatterjee K. Selenoprotein deficiency predisposes to aortic aneurysm formation. Nature Communications (2023) 14:7994. PMID: 38042913

Dore R, Watson L, Hollidge S, Krause C, Sentis SC, Oelkrug R, Geißler C, Johann K, Pedaran M, Lyons G, Lopez-Alcantara N, Resch J, Sayk F, Iwen KA, Franke A, Boysen TJ, Dalley JW, Lorenz K, Moran C, Rennie KL, Arner A, Kirchner H, Chatterjee K, Mittag J. Resistance to thyroid hormone induced tachycardia in RTHα syndrome. Nature Communications (2023) 14:3312. PMID: 37286550 

Okosieme OE, Usman D, Taylor PN, Dayan CM, Lyons G, Moran C, Chatterjee K, Rees DA. Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients in Wales, UK with Resistance to Thyroid Hormone b (RTHb): a linked record study. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology (2023) 11:657-666. PMID: 37475119 

Watson L, Cole TJ, Lyons G, Georgiou C, Worsley J, Carr KS, Murgatroyd PR, Moran C, Chatterjee K, Venables MC. Centile reference chart for resting metabolic rate through the life course. Archives of Disease in Childhood (2023) 108:545-549. PMID: 36863849 

Ahluwalia R, Baldeweg SE, Boelaert K, Chatterjee K, Dayan C, Okosieme O, Priestley J, Taylor P, Vaidya B, Zammitt N, Pearce SH. Use of liothyronine (T3) in hypothyroidism: Joint British Thyroid Association/Society for endocrinology consensus statement. Clinical Endocrinology (2023) 99:206-216.  PMID: 37272400  

Martinez-Alonso B*, Agostini M*, Jones H, McLellan J, Sood D, Tomkinson N, Marelli F, Gentile I, Visser WE, Schoenmakers E, Fairall F, Privalsky M, Moran C, Persani L, Chatterjee K†, Schwabe J†. Structure-guided approach to relieving transcriptional repression in Resistance to Thyroid Hormone alpha. Molecular and Cellular Biology (2022) 42:e0036321 (*coequal first authors;†joint senior authors). PMID: 34871063  

Moran C, Schoenmakers N, Visser WE, Schoenmakers E, Agostini M, Chatterjee K. Genetic disorders of thyroid development, hormone biosynthesis and signalling. Clinical Endocrinology (2022) 97:502-514. PMID: 35999191 

Mitchell E, Chapman MS, Williams N, Dawson KJ, Mende N, Calderbank EF, Jung H, Mitchell T, Coorens T, Spencer D, Machado H, Lee-Six H, Davies M, Hayler D, Fabre M, Mahbubani K, Abascal F, Cagan A, Vassiliou G, Baxter J, Martincorena I, Stratton MR, Kent D, Chatterjee K, Saeb-Parsy K, Green AR, Nangalia J, Laurenti E, Campbell PJ. Clonal dynamics of haematopoiesis across the human lifespan. Nature (2022) 606:343-350. PMID: 35650442 

Liu X, Munro APS, Wright A, Feng S, Janani L, Aley PK, Babbage G, Baker J, Baxter D, Bawa T, Bula M, Cathie K, Chatterjee K, Dodd K, Enever Y, Fox L, Qureshi E, Goodman AL, Green CA, Haughney J, Hicks A, Jones CE, Kanji N, van der Klaauw AA, Libri V, Llewelyn MJ, Mansfield R, Maallah M, McGregor AC, Minassian AM, Moore P, Mughal M, Mujadidi YF, Belhadef HT, Holliday K, Osanlou O, Osanlou R, Owens DR, Pacurar M, Palfreeman A, Pan D, Rampling T, Regan K, Saich S, Saralaya D, Sharma S, Sheridan R, Stokes M, Thomson EC, Todd S, Twelves C, Read RC, Charlton S, Hallis B, Ramsay M, Andrews N, Lambe T, Nguyen-Van-Tam JS, Cornelius V, Snape MD, Faust SN; COV-BOOST study group. Persistance of immune responses after heterologous and homologous third COVID-19 vaccine dose schedules in the UK: eight-month analyses of the COV-BOOST trial. J Infection (2023) 87:18-26. PMID: 37085049 

Munro APS, Feng S, Janani L, Cornelius V, Aley PK, Babbage G, Baxter D, Bula M, Cathie K, Chatterjee K, Dodd K, Enever Y, Qureshi E, Goodman AL, Green CA, Harndahl L, Haughney J, Hicks A, van der Klaauw AA, Kanji N, Libri V, Llewelyn MJ, McGregor AC, Maallah M, Minassian AM, Moore P, Mughal M, Mujadidi YF, Holliday K, Osanlou O, Osanlou R, Owens DR, Pacurar M, Palfreeman A, Pan D, Rampling T, Regan K, Saich S, Bawa T, Saralaya D, Sharma S, Sheridan R, Thomson EC, Todd S, Twelves C, Read RC, Charlton S, Hallis B, Ramsay M, Andrews N, Lambe T, Nguyen-Van-Tam JS, Snape MD, Liu X, Faust SN; COV-BOOST study group. Safety, immunogenicity and reactogenicity of BNT162b2 and mRNA1273 COVID-19 vaccines given as fourth-dose boosters following two doses of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 or BNT162b2 and a third dose of BNT162b2 (COVBOOST): a multicentre, blinded, phase 2, randomised trial. The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2022) 22:1131-1141. PMID: 35550261 

Munro APS, Jalani L, Cornelius, V, Aley PK, Babbage G, Baxter D,  Bula M,  Cathie K, Chatterjee K, Dodd K, Enever Y, Gokani K, Goodman A, Green CA, Harndahl L, Haughney J,  Hicks A,  van der Klaauw A, Kwok J, Libri V, Llewelyn M, McGregor AC,  Minassian A, Moore P, Mughal M, Mujadidi YF, Murira J, Osanlou O, Osanlou R, Owens DR, Pacurar M, Palfreeman A, Pan D, Rampling R, Regan K,  Saich S,  Sakeld J, Saralaya D, Sharma S, Sheridan R, Sturdy A, Thomson EC, Todd S,  Twelves C,  Read R, Charlton S, Hallis B, Ramsay M, Andrews N, Nguyen-Van-Tam JS,  Snape MD, Liu X, Faust SN and the COV-BOOST study group. Safety and immunogenicity of seven COVID-19 vaccines as a third dose (booster) following two doses of ChAdOx1-nCov19 (AZD1222) or BNT162b2: A blinded, randomised controlled trial (COV-BOOST). Lancet (2021) 398:2258-2276. PMID: 34863358  

Török ME, Underwood BR, Toshner M, Waddington C, Sidhom E, Sharrocks K, Bousfield R, Summers C, Saunders C, McIntyre Z, Morris H, Piper J, Calderon G, Dennis S, Assari T, Marguerie de Rotrou A, Shaw A, Bradley J, O’Brien J, Rintoul RC, Smith I, Bullmore E, Chatterjee K and on behalf of the Cambridge COVID vaccine trial team. Challenges and opportunities for conducting a vaccine trial during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Clinical Trials (2021) 18:615-621. PMID: 34154428; PMCID: PMC8479147 

Schoenmakers E, Chatterjee K. Human Genetic Disorders Resulting in Systemic Selenoprotein Deficiency. Int. J. Mol. Sci. (2021) 22:12927. PMID: 34884733; PMCID: PMC8658020 

Moran C, McEniery CM, Schoenmakers N, Mitchell C, Sleigh A, Watson L, Lyons G, Burling K, Barker P, Chatterjee K. Dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, ectopic lipid accumulation and vascular function in Resistance to Thyroid Hormone β. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2021) 106:e2005-e2014. PMID: 33524107; PMCID: PMC8063262 

Di Cicco E*, Moran C*, Visser WE, Nappi A, Schoenmakers E, Todd P, Lyons G, Dattani M, Ambrosio R, Parisi S, Salvatore D, Chatterjee VK†, Dentice M†. Germline mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor alpha gene predispose to cutaneous tags and melanocytic nevi. Thyroid (2021) 31:1114-1126 (*coequal first authors;†joint senior authors). PMID: 33509032; PMCID: PMC8290313 

Groeneweg S, van Geest FS, Abacı A, Alcantud A, Ambegaonkar GP, Armour CM, Bakhtiani P, Barca D,Bertini ES, van Beynum IM, Brunetti-Pierri N, Bugiani M, Cappa M, Cappuccio G, Castellotti B,Castiglioni C, Chatterjee K, de Coo IFM, Coutant R, Craiu D, Crock P, DeGoede C, Demir K, Dica A,Dimitri P, Dolcetta-Capuzzo A, Dremmen MHG, Dubey R, Enderli A, Fairchild J, Gallichan J, George B,Gevers EF, Hackenberg A, Halasz Z, Heinrich B, Huynh T, Kłosowska A, van der Knaap MS, van der Knoop MM,Konrad D, Koolen DA, Krude H, Lawson-Yuen A, Lebl J, Linder-Lucht M, Lorea CF, Lourenco CM,Lunsing RJ, Lyons G, Malikova J, Mancilla EE, McGowan A, Mericq V, Lora FM, Moran C, Müller KE,Oliver-Petit I, Paone L, Paul PG, Polak M, Porta F, Poswar FO, Reinauer C, Rozenkova K,Menevse TS, Simm P, Simon A, Singh Y, Spada M, van der Spek J, Stals MAM, Stoupa A,Subramanian GM, Tonduti D, Turan S, den Uil CA, Vanderniet J, van der Walt A, Wemeau JL, Wierzba J,de Wit MY, Wolf NI, Wurm M, Zibordi F, Zung A, Zwaveling-Soonawala N, Visser WE. Disease characteristics of MCT8 deficiency: an international, retrospective, multicentre study. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology (2020) 8:594-605. PMID: 32559475; Europe PMC 

Khoo S, Lyons G, McGowan A, Gurnell M, Oddy S, Visser WE, van den Berg S, Halsall D, Taylor K, Chatterjee K*, Moran C. Familial dysalbuminaemic hyperthyroxinaemia interferes with current free thyroid hormone immunoassay methods. European Journal of Endocrinology (2020) 182:533-538 (*senior author). PMID: 32213658; PMCID: PMC7222281 

Uter J, Heldmann M, Rogge B, Obst M, Steinhardt J, Brabant G, Moran C, Chatterjee K, Munte T. Patients with mutations of the thyroid hormone beta receptor show an ADHD-like phenotype for performance monitoring: an electrophysiological study. Neuroimage Clin. (2020) 26:102250. PMID: 32217468; PMCID: PMC7109456 

Groeneweg S, Peeters RP, Moran C, Stoupa A, Auriol F, Tonduti D,  Dica A, Paone L, Rozenkova K, Malikova J, van der Walt A, de Coo IFM, McGowan A, Lyons G, Aarsen FK, Barca D, van Beynum IM, van der Knoop MM, Jansen J, Manshande M, Lunsing RJ, Nowak S, den Uil CA, Zillikens MC, Visser FE, Vrijmoeth P, de Wit MCY, Wolf NI, Zandstra A, Ambegaonkar G, Singh Y, de Rijke YB, Medici M, Bertini ES, Depoorter S, Lebl J, Cappa M, De Meirleir L, Krude H, Craiu D, Zibordi F, Oliver-Petit I, Polak M, Chatterjee K, Visser TJ, Visser WE. Effectiveness and safety of Triac in children and adults with MCT8 deficiency: an international, multicentre, single group, open-label, phase 2 trial. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology (2019) 7:695-706. PMID: 31377265; Europe PMC 

Krieger TG, Moran CM, Frangini A, Visser WE, Schoenmakers E, Muntoni F, Clark C, Gadian D, Chong WK, Kuczynski A, Dattani M, Lyons G, Efthymiadou A, Varga-Khadem F, Simons BD, Chatterjee K, Livesey FJ.  Mutations in thyroid hormone receptor alpha1 cause premature neurogenesis and progenitor cell depletion in human cortical development. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA (2019) 116:22754-22763. PMID: 31628250; PMCID: PMC6842615 

Achermann JC, Schwabe J, Fairall L, Chatterjee K. Genetic disorders of Nuclear Receptors. Journal of Clinical Investigation (2017) 127:1181-1192. PMID: 28368288; PMCID: PMC5373888 

Majithia AR*, Tsuda B*, Agostini M*, Gnanapradeepan K*, Rice R, Peloso G, Patel KA, Zhang X, Broekema MF, Patterson N, Duby M, Sharpe T, Kalkhoven E, Rosen ED, Barroso I, Ellard S, UK Monogenic Diabetes Consortium, Kathiresan S, Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium, O’Rahilly S, UK Congenital Lipodystrophy Consortium, Chatterjee K, Florez JC, Mikkelsen T, Savage DB, Altshuler D. Prospective functional classification of all possible missense variants in PPARG. Nature Genetics (2016) 48:1570-1575 (*coequal first authors). PMID: 27749844; PMCID: PMC5131844 

Schoenmakers E, Carlson B, Agostini M, Moran C, Rajanayagam O, Bockukova E, Tobe R, Peat R, Gevers E, Muntoni F, Guicheney P, Schoenmakers N, Farooqi S, Lyons G, Hatfield D, Chatterjee K. Mutation in human selenocysteine transfer RNA selectively disrupts selenoprotein synthesis. Journal of Clinical Investigation (2016) 126:992-996. PMID: 26854926; PMCID: PMC4767355 

Moran C*, Agostini M*, Visser WE, Schoenmakers E, Schoenmakers N, Offiah AC, Poole K, Rajanayagam O, Lyons G, Halsall D, Gurnell M, Chrysis D, Eythimiadou A, Buchanan C, Aylwin S and Chatterjee K. Resistance to Thyroid Hormone caused by a mutation in thyroid hormone receptor (TR) alpha1 and TRalpha2: clinical, biochemical and genetic anayses of three related patients. Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology (2014) 2:619-626 (*co-equal first authors). PMID: 24969835; PMCID: PMC5989926 

Bochukova E*, Schoenmakers N*, Agostini M, Schoenmakers E, Rajanayagam O, Keogh JM, Henning E, Reinemund J, Gevers E, Sarri M, Downes K, Offiah A, Albanese A, Halsall D, Schwabe J, Bain M, Lindley K, Muntoni F, Vargha Khadem F, Dattani M, Farooqi S, Gurnell M, Chatterjee K. (2012). A Mutation in the Thyroid Hormone Receptor Alpha Gene. New England Journal of Medicine (2012) 366:243-249 (*coequal first authors). PMID: 22168587; Europe PMC 

Professor of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine
Director, Cambridge Clinical Research Centre
Director, PhD for Health Professionals Programme Cambridge & East Anglia
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