Recruitment and activation of brown adipocytes as preventive and curative therapy for type 2 diabetes
Person photo Prof Barbara Cannon
Physiology (Wenner-Gren Institute)
Funding source: EU Seventh Framework Programme - Health
Period: 10/1/11 - 9/30/15
Funding: 6000000 EUR
Description:
The DIABAT project will employ knowledge of the function, dysfunction and physiological regulation of brown adipocytes to develop innovative therapeutic and preventive strategies for type 2 diabetes. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is currently a worldwide recognized target to combat obesity and diabetes due to last year's re-discovery of functional BAT in adult humans by several of the members of the DIABAT network (van Marken LIchtenbelt et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 1500, 2009; Virtanen, Enerback & Nuutila, N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 1518, 2009) along with sharp rise in insight in cellular, genetic, and regulatory mechanisms from animal studies. Therefore, the DIABAT project aims at recruiting and re-activating endogenous energy-dissipating BAT as a preventive and/or remedial measure for weight and blood sugar control in obesity-related type 2 diabetes (diabesity), thereby halting or preventing destruction and facilitating recovery of pancreatic beta-cells under diabetic conditions.
  
Partner Org. (19)
  
Evolva Biotech A/S
, Denmark
French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
, France
French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM)
, France
German Cancer Research Center
, Germany
Graz University of Technology
, Austria
Imperial College London
, United Kingdom
Institute of Physiology AS CR, v.v.i.
, Czech Republic
Maastricht Instruments
, Netherlands
Maastricht University
, Netherlands
Miltenyi Biotec GmbH
, Germany
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