Grant: Operating Grant

Obesity, type-II diabetes, and other lipid-metabolism related diseases (such as high blood concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) have become epidemic worldwide, including in Canada. Most of the symptoms associated with these metabolic disorders are caused by imbalanced triglyceride metabolism (termed triglyceride homeostasis) in the liver. In this research proposal we address four aspects of triglyceride homeostasis in the liver, namely triglyceride synthesis, triglyceride storage, triglyceride turnover (i.e. degradation), and triglyceride secretion as protein-lipid complexes called lipoproteins (such as LDL, commonly known as the "bad cholesterol"). In our laboratories, we have generated several mouse models that are genetically modified to suit for the studies of hypertriglyceridemia (i.e. too much triglycerides in the blood), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and other abnormalities in triglyceride metabolism. The ultimate goal of our research is to identify new protein markers for diagnosis and prevention of lipid-metabolism related diseases, as well as to identify targets for therapeutic interventions.