Molecular mechanisms of the vaspin-KLK7 axis in obesity and diabetes (C07)

随着在成人中发现功能性棕色脂肪组织(BAT)，以这种强大的代谢器官为靶点治疗肥胖或糖尿病的概念具有重要意义。基于基因芯片数据揭示脂肪因子vaspin(内脏脂肪组织衍生丝氨酸，serpinA12)是冷刺激蝙蝠中最高表达的基因，以及我们自己的初步数据表明在小鼠vaspin处理后AT褐变，本项目正在研究vaspin及其靶标蛋白激肽释放酶7(KLK7)在AT褐变、能量消耗和食物摄取中的作用。在KLK14中，已经鉴定了第二种被vaspin抑制的蛋白酶，该酶将在C7项目中进行鉴定以进行靶标识别。

With the identification of functional brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans, concepts to target this powerful metabolic organ to treat obesity or diabetes took on great significance. Based on microarray data revealing the adipokine vaspin (visceral adipose tissue-derived serpin, serpinA12) as a top upregulated gene in cold stimulated BAT and our own preliminary data indicating AT browning after vaspin treatment in mice, this project is investigating the role of vaspin and its target protease kallikrein 7 (KLK7) in AT browning, energy expenditure and food intake. With KLK14, a second protease inhibited by vaspin has been identified, which will be characterized in project C7 for targets identification.