IMPDH and lipid accumulation

肌苷-5'单磷酸脱氢酶（IMPDH）是一种负责为细胞提供能量的酶，使细胞能够承担正确的功能。最近，我们已经证明，当细胞暴露于过多的营养物质时，IMPDH也在细胞内脂肪滴的形成中发挥作用。在哺乳动物中，过量消耗的能量以脂肪滴的形式储存在所有细胞中。在脂肪细胞中，能量储存在非常大的液滴中，我们将其视为额外的身体脂肪。这有时与细胞激素分泌的改变有关，从而导致糖尿病等问题。在其他细胞中，多余的能量被储存为微小的脂肪液滴（脂质体），这会对细胞的功能产生不利影响。我们已经证明，阻断IMPDH的作用可以干扰脂肪细胞和其他类型细胞的脂肪积累。这表明，IMPDH在肥胖和糖尿病等相关问题的发展中起着重要作用。在本研究中，我们旨在详细研究IMPDH在细胞脂肪滴积累中的作用。我们将通过观察不同形式的IMPDH在不同细胞类型（包括人类脂肪细胞）中的作用来做到这一点。我们还将研究IMPDH增加或减少的细胞和动物，并研究其对脂肪储存增加和胰岛素抵抗的影响。这些研究将增加我们对IMPDH在肥胖发展中的作用的理解，并可能导致确定治疗肥胖和2型糖尿病的新途径。

Inosine-5' Monophosphate Dehydrogenase (IMPDH) is an enzyme responsible for providing a form of energy to cells, so that they may undertake their correct functions. Recently, we have demonstrated that IMPDH also has a role in the formation of fat droplets within cells, when they are exposed to excessive nutrients. In mammals, excess consumed energy is stored as fat droplets within all cells. In fat cells, the energy is stored in very large droplets, and we see this as extra body fat. This is sometimes associated with an alteration in the hormone production of the cells, leading to problems such as diabetes. In other cells, the excess energy is stored as tiny fat droplets (lipid bodies) that can adversely affect the function of the cell. We have shown that blocking the action of IMPDH can interfere with the accumulation of fat in both fat cells and other types of cell. This suggests that IMPDH has an important role in the development of obesity and associated problems such as diabetes. In this study we aim to investigate in detail the role of IMPDH in the accumulation of fat droplets in cells. We will do this by looking at the effects of different forms of IMPDH in different cell types, including human fat cells. We will also study cells and animals with increased or decreased amounts of IMPDH, and investigate the effects of this on the development of increased fat stores and insulin resistance. These studies will increase our understanding of the role of IMPDH in the development of obesity, and may lead to identification of new avenues of treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes.