2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

Cloning of New Adipocytokine and elucidation of its pathophysiological role

Research Project

Project/Area Number	15390288
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Metabolomics
Research Institution	Osaka University
Principal Investigator	SHIMOMURA Iichiro Osaka University, Graduate School of Frontier Bioscience, Professor, 生命機能研究科, 教授 (60346145)
Project Period (FY)	2003 – 2004
Keywords	Visfatin / adipocytokine / insulin receptor
Research Abstract	Fat tissue produces a variety of secreted proteins (adipocytokines) with important roles in metabolism. We isolated a newly identified adipocytokine, visfatin, that is highly enriched in the visceral fat of both humans and mice and whose expression level in plasma increases during the development of obesity. Visfatin corresponds to a protein identified previously as pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor(PBEF), a 52-kilodalton cytokine expressed in lymphocytes. Visfatin exerted insulin-mimetic effects in cultured cells and lowered plasma glucose levels in mice. Mice heterozygous for a targeted mutation in the visfatin gene had modestly higher levels of plasma glucose relative to wild-type littermates. Visfatin binds to and activates the insulin receptor. We isolated a new adipocytokine ; Visfatin, and visfatin is a new therapeutic target of metabolic disorders such as diabetes.

(2 results)