Nielsen group

About us

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease and obesity and physical inactivity are strong risk factors for the development of the disease. Many organs are affected by type 2 diabetes, and as a result become dysfunctional. The organs that are most exposed in terms of energy consumption and deposition are skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. How energy turnover in the muscles is balanced in relation to lipids in the fat cells is crucial for metabolic equilibrium and this is regulated on several levels.

We isolate muscle stem cells (satellite cells) from skeletal muscle in humans and grow them in culture. The aim is to investigate whether this early muscle cell stage is affected by lifestyle-related factors such as physical inactivity, obesity and type 2 diabetes. In addition to stem cells from muscle, we also isolate and study stem cells from fat, especially the so-called brown fat cells. Recently, brown fat was identified in adult humans. This tissue is of particular interest to us, as it is not only stored in the same way as "normal" white fat, but can also itself consume fat as energy by producing heat as a physiological response to cold. Several studies have demonstrated a brown fat-like phenotype in white fat in mice, which is induced via a process called browning. Certain disease states imply that browning of white fat can also occur in humans. One of our hypotheses is that induction of brown fat deposits as well as browning of white fat deposits in obese people can counteract obesity and type 2 diabetes.

We use a translational approach to study the mechanism behind the activation of brown fat and the browning of white fat. By isolating stem cells from the brown and white fat of people with different metabolic profiles or from people exposed to cold, we hope to identify specific regulators of brown fat and browning.

Non-coding RNAs are increasingly recognized as important regulators of cell identity and function. These molecules do not code for any specific proteins, but represent functional units that control gene expression and protein function at multiple levels in the cell. We have developed several methods to study the role of non-coding RNA in the activation of the brown fat and in the browning of the white fat.

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