2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Identification of a key factor regulating the normal differentiation of brown adipocytes

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21790055
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Biological pharmacy
Research Institution	Hokkaido University
Principal Investigator	KAJIMOTO Kazuaki Hokkaido University, 大学院・薬学研究院, 特任准教授 (10416216)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2010
Keywords	細胞・組織 / 発現制御 / 発生・分化 / 褐色脂肪細胞
Research Abstract	Brown adipocytes play an important role in energy homeostasis because of their unique function dissipating excess energy as heat. We attempted to identify a key factor regulating the normal differentiation of brown adipocytes. As a result, in presence of high concentration of insulin, the expression of UCP1, which is essential for energy consumption in brown adipocytes, is significantly suppressed. In addition, high concentration of insulin also suppressed the expression of PDK4, which is known as a key regulatory enzyme involved in switching the energy source from glucose to fatty acids. From this result, it was suggested that the induction of PDK4 during brown adipocyte differentiation is essential for the energy dissipating function of the normal brown adipocytes.