The influence of dietary fatty acids on regional adipose tissue development and function

肥胖的流行与各种代谢性疾病的患病率增加有关，包括2型糖尿病、心血管疾病和非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）。摄入不同类型的脂肪也与不同的健康结果有关，例如，摄入饱和脂肪酸含量高的饮食与患冠心病的风险增加有关，而摄入富含单不饱和脂肪酸和多不饱和脂肪酸的饮食与患病风险降低有关。脂肪组织是人体膳食脂肪的主要储存部位，因此脂肪组织的脂肪酸组成密切反映了膳食的营养成分。然而，目前尚不清楚饮食中的脂肪酸组成是否会影响脂肪组织的功能。此外，由于体内脂肪组织的不同区域（即腹部和臀部）在组成和功能上存在细微差异，因此饮食对不同部位组织功能的影响可能不尽相同。在本项目中，将进行研究，以了解和确定膳食脂肪酸对区域脂肪组织库的组成、发育和功能的影响，特别是臀部和腹部皮下脂肪组织。这些研究将包括脂肪细胞的体外培养，以研究人类脂肪细胞生物学的一系列方面，包括增殖、脂肪生成、胰岛素信号传导、脂肪分解、脂肪生成和炎症，例如，利用稳定同位素示踪剂、基因表达测量和基因编辑。这些研究将被人类饮食干预研究补充，以确定体外结果如何有效地转化为人类。

The obesity epidemic is linked to an increased prevalence in various metabolic diseases including Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The consumption of different types of fat is also linked to different health outcomes, for example consumption of a diet high in saturated fatty acids is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease whilst consumption of a diet rich in mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids is associated with a reduced disease risk. Adipose tissue serves as the major storage site for dietary fat in the human body and, consequently, the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue closely reflects the nutritional content of the diet. However, it is not clear whether fatty acid composition of the diet affects the function of adipose tissue. Furthermore, since the different regional depots (i.e. abdominal and gluteal) of adipose tissue in the body exhibit subtle differences in composition and function, the effects of diet on tissue function may not be the same across the depots. In this project, studies will be undertaken in order to understand and define the impact of dietary fatty acids on the composition, development and function of regional adipose tissue depots, specifically gluteal and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. The studies will include in vitro cultures of adipocytes to investigate a range of aspects of human adipocyte biology including proliferation, adipogenesis, insulin signalling, lipolysis, lipogenesis and inflammation utilising, for example, stable isotope tracers, measurements of gene expression and gene editing. These studies will be complimented by human dietary intervention studies in order to determine how effectively the in vitro results can be translated into humans.