Gregory Ku, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

My lab is interested in improving all forms of diabetes mellitus. We use functional genomics to find new gene targets to improve pancreatic beta cell survival, proliferation, and function.

I also see diabetes patients in the UCSF Diabetes Clinic.
Education
Fellowship, 07/2014 - Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of California, San Francisco
Residency, 7/2008 - Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Ph.D., 2004 - Graduate Division (Biomedical Sciences), University of California, San Francisco
M.D., 2004 - School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
AB, 05/1996 - Biochemical Sciences, Harvard College
Publications

  1. Wang M, Sushil M, Williams CYK, Miao BY, Kim S, Masharani U, Ku G, Hsiao V, Shah A, Koliwad SK, Butte AJ. Assessment of Large Language Models for Enhancing Diabetologist-Developed Personalized Treatment Plans in Complex Type 2 Diabetes. Clinical diabetes : a publication of the American Diabetes Association 2025. PMID: 41140742


  2. Mathiowetz AJ, Meymand ES, Deol KK, Parlakgül G, Lange M, Pang SP, Roberts MA, Torres EF, Jorgens DM, Zalpuri R, Kang M, Boone C, Zhang Y, Morgens DW, Tso E, Zhou Y, Talukdar S, Levine TP, Ku G, Arruda AP, Olzmann JA. CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2024. PMID: 38895340


  3. Lee RA, Chopra DG, Nguyen V, Huang XP, Zhang Y, Shariati K, Yiv N, Schugar R, Annes J, Roth B, Ku GM. An shRNA screen in primary human beta cells identifies the serotonin 1F receptor as a negative regulator of survival during transplant. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2024. PMID: 38746433


  4. Faiq S, Lavelle K, Hu T, Shoback D, Ku G. Cinacalcet increases renal calcium excretion in PTHrP-mediated hypercalcemia: a case report. BMC endocrine disorders 2023. PMID: 37328745


  5. Gruner HN, Zhang Y, Shariati K, Yiv N, Hu Z, Wang Y, Hejtmancik JF, McManus MT, Tharp K, Ku G. SARS-CoV-2 ORF3A interacts with the Clic-like chloride channel-1 (CLCC1) and triggers an unfolded protein response. PeerJ 2023. PMID: 37033725


  6. Shariati K, Zhang Y, Giubbolini S, Parra R, Liang S, Edwards A, Hejtmancik JF, Ratto GM, Arosio D, Ku G. A Superfolder Green Fluorescent Protein-Based Biosensor Allows Monitoring of Chloride in the Endoplasmic Reticulum. ACS sensors 2022. PMID: 35951356


  7. Ma Y, Wang X, Shoshany N, Jiao X, Lee A, Ku G, Baple EL, Fasham J, Nadeem R, Naeem MA, Riazuddin S, Riazuddin SA, Crosby AH, Hejtmancik JF. CLCC1 c. 75C>A Mutation in Pakistani Derived Retinitis Pigmentosa Families Likely Originated With a Single Founder Mutation 2,000-5,000 Years Ago. AACE Clinical Case Reports 2022. PMID: 35391798


  8. Tharp KM, Higuchi-Sanabria R, Timblin GA, Ford B, Garzon-Coral C, Schneider C, Muncie JM, Stashko C, Daniele JR, Moore AS, Frankino PA, Homentcovschi S, Manoli SS, Shao H, Richards AL, Chen KH, Hoeve JT, Ku GM, Hellerstein M, Nomura DK, Saijo K, Gestwicki J, Dunn AR, Krogan NJ, Swaney DL, Dillin A, Weaver VM. Adhesion-mediated mechanosignaling forces mitohormesis. Cell metabolism 2021. PMID: 34019840


  9. Shariati K, Pappalardo Z, Chopra DG, Yiv N, Sheen R, Ku G. Selective monitoring of insulin secretion after CRISPR interference in intact pancreatic islets despite submaximal infection. Islets 2020. PMID: 32579048


  10. Chopra DG, Yiv N, Hennings TG, Zhang Y, Ku GM. Deletion of Gpr27 in vivo reduces insulin mRNA but does not result in diabetes. Scientific reports 2020. PMID: 32221326


  11. Lee J, Pappalardo Z, Chopra DG, Hennings TG, Vaughn I, Lan C, Choe JJ, Ang K, Chen S, Arkin M, McManus MT, German MS, Ku GM. A Genetic Interaction Map of Insulin Production Identifies Mfi as an Inhibitor of Mitochondrial Fission. Endocrinology 2018. PMID: 30059978


  12. Hennings TG, Chopra DG, DeLeon ER, VanDeusen HR, Sesaki H, Merrins MJ, Ku GM. In Vivo Deletion of ß-Cell Drp1 Impairs Insulin Secretion Without Affecting Islet Oxygen Consumption. Endocrinology 2018. PMID: 30052866


  13. Bulut-Karslioglu A, Macrae TA, Oses-Prieto JA, Covarrubias S, Percharde M, Ku G, Diaz A, McManus MT, Burlingame AL, Ramalho-Santos M. The Transcriptionally Permissive Chromatin State of Embryonic Stem Cells Is Acutely Tuned to Translational Output. Cell stem cell 2018. PMID: 29499153


  14. Pappalardo Z, Gambhir Chopra D, Hennings TG, Richards H, Choe J, Yang K, Baeyens L, Ang K, Chen S, Arkin M, German MS, McManus MT, Ku GM. A Whole-Genome RNA Interference Screen Reveals a Role for Spry2 in Insulin Transcription and the Unfolded Protein Response. Diabetes 2017. PMID: 28246293


  15. Berger M, Scheel DW, Macias H, Miyatsuka T, Kim H, Hoang P, Ku GM, Honig G, Liou A, Tang Y, Regard JB, Sharifnia P, Yu L, Wang J, Coughlin SR, Conklin BR, Deneris ES, Tecott LH, German MS. Gai/o-coupled receptor signaling restricts pancreatic ß-cell expansion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2015. PMID: 25695968


  16. Chamberlain CE, Scheel DW, McGlynn K, Kim H, Miyatsuka T, Wang J, Nguyen V, Zhao S, Mavropoulos A, Abraham AG, O'Neill E, Ku GM, Cobb MH, Martin GR, German MS. Menin determines K-RAS proliferative outputs in endocrine cells. The Journal of clinical investigation 2014. PMID: 25133424


  17. Ku GM, Kim H, Vaughn IW, Hangauer MJ, Myung Oh C, German MS, McManus MT. Research resource: RNA-Seq reveals unique features of the pancreatic ß-cell transcriptome. Molecular endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.) 2012. PMID: 22915829


  18. Ku GM, Pappalardo Z, Luo CC, German MS, McManus MT. An siRNA screen in pancreatic beta cells reveals a role for Gpr27 in insulin production. PLoS genetics 2012. PMID: 22253604


  19. Ku G, McManus MT. Behind the scenes of a small RNA gene-silencing pathway. Human gene therapy 2008. PMID: 18211225


  20. Ku GM, Yablonski D, Manser E, Lim L, Weiss A. A PAK1-PIX-PKL complex is activated by the T-cell receptor independent of Nck, Slp-76 and LAT. The EMBO journal 2001. PMID: 11157752


  21. Kuhne MR, Ku G, Weiss A. A guanine nucleotide exchange factor-independent function of Vav1 in transcriptional activation. The Journal of biological chemistry 2000. PMID: 10636924