Keren I. Hilgendorf

Keren I. Hilgendorf, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Biochemistry

Lab

Keren Hilgendorf, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah. She is also a member of the Cell Response and Regulation Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Dr. Hilgendorf received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine and was a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow.

Research Statement

The Hilgendorf Lab studies the molecular mechanisms regulating adult stems cell expansion and differentiation to ensure proper tissue homeostasis, expansion, and regeneration. A major focus of the lab is to study the molecular mechanisms regulating fat tissue. We use a combination of animal models and cell culture techniques. We are particularly interested in how the primary cilium, an antenna-like signaling organelle, senses and organizes signal transduction pathways to regulate stem cell fate.

Education History

Fellowship Stanford University
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Graduate Training Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 PhD
Undergraduate University of Texas at Austin
 BS

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Lee MD, Hilgendorf KI (2025). Prostaglandin E2 inhibits adipogenesis through the cilia-dependent activation of ROCK2. J Cell Sci, 138(20).
  2. Turn RE, Hilgendorf KI, Johnson CT, Han K, Aziz-Zanjani MO, Swails Bollinger S, Domizi P, Cheng R, Rabiee A, Zhu Y, Jiang Z, Asthana A, Demeter J, Svensson KJ, Bassik MC, Jackson PK (2025). A genome-wide, CRISPR-based screen reveals new requirements for translation initiation and ubiquitination in driving adipogenic fate change. Genes Dev, 39(19-20), 1241-1264.
  3. Vieira RF, Sanchez SR, Arumugam M, Mower PD, Curtin MC, Jackson AE, Gallop MR, Wright J, Bowles A, Ducker GS, Hilgendorf KI, Chaix A (2025). Hyperlipidemia drives tumor growth in a mouse model of obesity-accelerated breast cancer growth. Cancer Metab, 13(1), 39.
  4. Curtin MC, Jackson AE, Brown EA, Maschek JA, Lum D, Cox JE, Welm AL, Hilgendorf KI (2025). Lean breast adipocytes secrete an oxylipin that suppresses breast cancer via ferroptosis. bioRxiv.
  5. Curtin MC, Jackson AE, Hilgendorf KI (2025). Isolation and Culturing of Primary Murine Adipocytes from Lean and Obese Mice. J Vis Exp, (215).
  6. Verma S, Giagnocavo SD, Curtin MC, Arumugam M, Osburn-Staker SM, Wang G, Atkinson A, Nix DA, Lum DH, Cox JE, Hilgendorf KI (2024). Zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein Secreted by Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Promotes Peritumoral Fibrosis. Cancer Res Commun, 4(7), 1655-1666.
  7. Garritson JD, Zhang J, Achenbach A, Ferhat M, Eich E, Stubben CJ, Martinez PL, Ibele AR, Hilgendorf KI, Boudina S (2023). BMPER is a marker of adipose progenitors and adipocytes and a positive modulator of adipogenesis. Commun Biol, 6(1), 638.
  8. Porpiglia E, Mai T, Kraft P, Holbrook CA, de Morree A, Gonzalez VD, Hilgendorf KI, Frsard L, Trejo A, Bhimaraju S, Jackson PK, Fantl WJ, Blau HM (2022). Elevated CD47 is a hallmark of dysfunctional aged muscle stem cells that can be targeted to augment regeneration. Cell Stem Cell, 29(12), 1653-1668.e8.
  9. Hilgendorf KI, Johnson CT, Mezger A, Rice SL, Norris AM, Demeter J, Greenleaf WJ, Reiter JF, Kopinke D, Jackson PK (2019). Omega-3 Fatty Acids Activate Ciliary FFAR4 to Control Adipogenesis. Cell, 179(6), 1289-1305.e21.
  10. Maynard MA, Ferretti R, Hilgendorf KI, Perret C, Whyte P, Lees JA (2013). Bmi1 is required for tumorigenesis in a mouse model of intestinal cancer. Oncogene, 33(28), 3742-7.
  11. Hilgendorf KI, Leshchiner ES, Nedelcu S, Maynard MA, Calo E, Ianari A, Walensky LD, Lees JA (2013). The retinoblastoma protein induces apoptosis directly at the mitochondria. Genes Dev, 27(9), 1003-15.

Review

  1. Hilgendorf KI, Myers BR, Reiter JF (2024). Emerging mechanistic understanding of cilia function in cellular signalling. [Review]. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 25(7), 555-573.
  2. Scamfer SR, Lee MD, Hilgendorf KI (2022). Ciliary control of adipocyte progenitor cell fate regulates energy storage. [Review]. Front Cell Dev Biol, 10, 1083372.
  3. Hilgendorf KI (2021). Primary Cilia Are Critical Regulators of White Adipose Tissue Expansion. [Review]. Front Physiol, 12, 769367.

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