Grant: Project Grant

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) serves as a key heat-producing organ required to maintain body temperature and homeothermy. In response to cold, activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) rapidly turns on oxidative metabolism and heat production in BAT. Until recently, BAT was thought to be present and active only in small mammals and human newborns. Over the last years, several groups confirmed the existence of BAT in adult humans. Interestingly, BAT activation is reduced in obese and type 2 diabetic individuals. Moreover, studies show inverse relationships between BAT activity, diabetes and glycemia. These results suggest that BAT may be exploited to dissipate energy excess and improve metabolic homeostasis. Unfortunately, the precise mechanisms regulating BAT development, recruitment and function are still incompletely characterized. Over the last years, we and other have discovered that the mTOR signaling pathway plays key roles in BAT. The loss of mTOR signaling severely impairs BAT development/function and impairs systemic glucose and lipid metabolism. Here we propose a research project whose objective is to define whether modulating the action of mTOR through one of its well-established modulator (DEPTOR) could represent a viable approach to promote BAT development and function and improve systemic metabolism. We believe that our work has the potential to provide additional knowledge to generate new options to improve metabolism and enhance human health.