Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Regional Partnership Program - Newfoundland and Labrador

Over 63% of all adult Canadians are obese or overweight. Obesity is a major risk factor for Type II diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer. Since the incidence of obesity is rising in children and adolescents, the incidence of obesity-associated health problems will continue to escalate. Lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, along with genetic predisposition are major contributing factors to the development of obesity. However, weight loss in obese individuals can be very difficult to achieve and/or maintain by lifestyle changes alone. Surgeries that reduce excess fat tissue are expensive and the resulting weight loss is often short-lived. In contrast, fat wasting conditions, including lipodystrophia and cancer-associated cachexia, are associated with increased heart disease and poor survival, respectively. Treatments for these conditions include nutritional intervention and steroid treatment but have had limited success. Therefore, development of targeted therapies is essential to address both the excess and lack of fat tissue. Discovery of targeted therapies requires increased understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the production of fat tissue. Fat cells, called adipocytes, have the ability to increase in size and number throughout life in response to excess food intake. There is also a continuous replacement of old, dying cells by newborn, or precursor, fat cells. We are investigating how the development of precursor cells to mature adipocytes is controlled. CD24 is a cell surface molecule that regulates the ability of precursor fat cells to form fully functional fat tissue. In this project, we will determine the precise molecular role of CD24 in this process, determine how CD24 expression is regulated and identify the genes and proteins that carry out CD24's function. This research will enhance our knowledge of how fat cell development is controlled and may help to design drugs for maintenance of a healthy amount of fat.