headshot of doctor greg Brent in grey suit

Gregory A. Brent, MD

Professor, Department of Medicine, Department of Physiology
Chair, Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System

Specialty

Endocrinology

Institutional Affiliation

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Languages

English

Education

Fellowships

Endocrinology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1985 - 1986
Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 1986 - 1989
Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 1985 - 1987

Internship

Internal Medicine, Wadsworth VA Medical Center, UCLA, 1981 - 1982

Degree

MD, University of Southern California, 1981

Residencies

Chief Resident, Internal Medicine, Wadsworth VA Medical Center, UCLA, 1984 - 1985
Internal Medicine, Wadsworth VA Medical Center, UCLA, 1982 - 1984

Board Certifications

Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, American Board of Internal Medicine, 1987
Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 1984

Contact Information

Clinical Interests

Thyroid Diseases

Scientific Interests

Dr. Gregory Brent's laboratory focuses on understanding gene regulation by nuclear acting hormones, especially thyroid hormone (T3) and retinoic acid (RA), which combine with nuclear receptors (RAR and TR). He studies the regulation and co-regulation of genes by T3 and RA as influenced by the DNA response element(s), the specific TR and RAR receptor isoforms available, nuclear receptor partners, ligand(s) concentration, and response co-activators and co-repressors. He studies T3 and RA influences on metabolism and gene regulation in hormone-dependent cancer. The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) gene is normally expressed in the thyroid and the lactating breast. Brent has studied factors associated with reduced expression of NIS in thyroid cancer and approaches to augment NIS expression in breast cancer. He has identified RA regulation of the NIS gene in breast cancer cell lines and in vivo models through modification of signal transduction pathways. He has studied in vitro and in vivo models to promote radioiodine uptake into breast cancer after systemic treatment with retinoids. He is currently mapping signal transduction pathways in thyroid and breast cancer modified by RA treatment, with the goal of improving radioiodine therapy.

Highlighted Publications

Milanesi A, Lee JW, Yang A, Liu YY, Sedrakyan S, Cheng SY, Perin L, Brent GA. 2017 Thyroid hormone receptor alpha is essential to maintain the satellite cell niche during skeletal mu cle injury and sarcopenia of aging. Thyroid 2017; 27:1316-1322.

Ke S, Liu YY,1, Karthikraj R, Kannan K, Jiang J, Abe K, Milanesi A, Brent GA. Thyroid ho mone receptor beta sumoylation is required for thyrotropin regulation and thyroid hormone production. J Clin Invest Insight 2021; 6(16):e149425.

Chou R, Dana T, Brent GA, Goldner W, Haymart MR, Leung AM, Ringel MD, Sosa JA. Serum thyroglobulin measurement following surgery without radioactive iodine for differentiated thyroid cancer: A systematic review. Thyroid 2022;32:613-639.

Abe K, Li J, Liu -Y, Brent GA. Thyroid hormone-mediated histone modification protects co tical neurons from the toxic effects of hypoxic injury. J Endocr Soc 2022;6(11): bvac139.

Lechner MG, Brent GA. A new twist on a classic: Enhancing radioiodine uptake in advanced thyroid cancer. Clin Cancer Res 2024; 30:1220-1222.