Summary
Dr Millership completed his PhD in Cell Biology at Cardiff University in 2012 where he demonstrated the SNARE-complex promoting potential of synucleins both in neurons and white adipocytes.
His postdoctoral work at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS) centred around determining the function of neuronatin, an imprinted gene previously implicated in obesity and type 2 diabetes. This work described a fundamental new mechanism involved in the synthesis of insulin in pancreatic beta cells: control of insulin prepeptide cleavage by the ER signal peptidase apparatus, mediated by neuronatin.
In February 2020 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust ISSF Springboard Fellowship and joined the Section of Cell Biology and Functional Genomics at the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction at Imperial College London. He is also supported by a Society for Endocrinology Early Career Grant, a Society for Endocrinology Equipment Grant (https://www.endocrinology.org) and is module lead for META 70003 (in vivo modelling and use of human material and data) and META 70004 (Core & Professional Skills) of the Imperial College MSc Applied Genomics programme.
He has been awarded the New Investigator Prize Lecture at the University of Toronto’s BBDC/CIHR-INMD Insulin100 Scientific Symposium in April 2021 and the Society for Endocrinology Non-Clinical Early Career Prize Lecture at BeS 2020. His research focusses on the functional heterogeneity of imprinted genes in pancreatic beta cells – and how this affects islet function in both normal conditions and in type 2 diabetes.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/metabolism-digestion-reproduction/research/diabetes-endocrinology-metabolism/cell-biology-and-functional-genomics/
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/medicine/applied-genomics/
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Villanueva-Hayes C, Millership SJ, 2021, Imprinted genes impact upon beta cell function in the current (and potentially next) generation, Frontiers in Endocrinology, Vol:12, ISSN:1664-2392, Pages:1-10
Mousavy Gharavy SN, Owen BM, Millership SJ, et al., 2021, Sexually dimorphic roles for the type 2 diabetes-associated C2cd4b gene in murine glucose homeostasis, Diabetologia, Vol:64, ISSN:0012-186X, Pages:850-864
Chabosseau P, Rutter G, Millership S, 2021, Importance of both imprinted genes and functional heterogeneity in pancreatic beta cells: is there a link?, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol:22, ISSN:1422-0067
Millership SJ, Van de Pette M, Withers DJ, 2019, Genomic imprinting and its effects on postnatal growth and adult metabolism, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Vol:76, ISSN:1420-682X, Pages:4009-4021
Rached M-T, Millership SJ, Pedroni SMA, et al., 2019, Deletion of myeloid IRS2 enhances adipose tissue sympathetic nerve function and limits obesity, Molecular Metabolism, Vol:20, ISSN:2212-8778, Pages:38-50
Millership S, Tunster SJ, Van de Pette M, et al., 2018, Neuronatin deletion causes postnatal growth restriction and adult obesity in 129S2/Sv mice, Molecular Metabolism, Vol:18, ISSN:2212-8778, Pages:97-106
Millership S, Da Silva Xavier G, Choudhury A, et al., 2018, Neuronatin regulates pancreatic beta cell insulin content and secretion, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Vol:128, ISSN:0021-9738, Pages:3369-3381
Connor-Robson N, Peters OM, Millership S, et al., 2016, Combinational losses of synucleins reveal their differential requirements for compensating age-dependent alterations in motor behavior and dopamine metabolism, Neurobiology of Aging, Vol:46, ISSN:0197-4580, Pages:107-112
Van De Pette M, Tunster SJ, McNamara GI, et al., 2016, Cdkn1c boosts the development of brown adipose tissue in a murine model of Silver Russell syndrome., PLOS Genetics, Vol:12, ISSN:1553-7390
Millership S, Ninkina N, Rochford JJ, et al., 2013, γ-synuclein is a novel player in the control of body lipid metabolism, Adipocyte, Vol:2, ISSN:2162-3945, Pages:276-280
Millership S, Ninkina N, Guschina IA, et al., 2012, Increased lipolysis and altered lipid homeostasis protect γ-synuclein–null mutant mice from diet-induced obesity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:109, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:20943-20948
Peters OM, Millership S, Shelkovnikova TA, et al., 2012, Selective pattern of motor system damage in gamma-synuclein transgenic mice mirrors the respective pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Neurobiology of Disease, Vol:48, ISSN:0969-9961, Pages:124-131
Anwar S, Peters O, Millership S, et al., 2011, Functional Alterations to the Nigrostriatal System in Mice Lacking All Three Members of the Synuclein Family, Journal of Neuroscience, Vol:31, ISSN:0270-6474, Pages:7264-7274