| Project/Area Number |
23659471
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Metabolomics
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| Research Institution | Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
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Principal Investigator |
MAZDA Osam 京都府立医科大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (00271164)
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| Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha) |
KAWAHITO Yutaka 京都府立医科大学, 医学研究科, 准教授 (50336731)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2011)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000)
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| Keywords | メタボリックシンドローム / 再生医療 / 転写因子 / 細胞分化 / 褐色脂肪細胞 |
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| Research Abstract |
Brown adipocytes dissipates fat energy as heat and plays crucial roles in energy expenditure and thermogenesis. They are also involved in regulation of visceral obesity and insulin resistance. The present study aims at devising novel technology to directly reprogram somatic cells such as fibroblasts into brown adipocytes. First, mRNA was obtained from brown adipocytes that had been established from iPS cells and subjected to DNA microarray technology to find out some genes that may have important roles in brown adipocyte lineages. Second, some of the genes identified as above were introduced into fibroblasts that were subsequently cultured under various conditions. Transfection of a particular combination of the genes resulted in generation of cells with multilocular lipid droplet and abundant mitochondria. Some other combinations of genes resulted in more efficient generation of such cells. Characterization of the cells strongly suggested typical features of the brown adipocytes. Interestingly, some different combination of genes induced white adipocytes-like cells more efficiently than brown adipocyte-like cells. These results strongly suggest direct reprogramming of fibroblasts into brown adipocytes by defined factors. We are thus currently analyzing optimal condition of the direct reprogramming as well as molecular mechanisms of the cell fate decision. The present study may contribute not only to the elucidation of differentiation of brown adipocytes but also to technology to generate and characterize brown adipocytes. Such technology may potentially provide novel regenerative medicine to control metabolic syndrome in the future.
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