Abstract
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 years 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, Enerbäck & 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.