Fighting obesity to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Rui Eduardo Mota Castro

Project awarded in collaboration with the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

  • PROJECT LEADER

    Rui Eduardo Mota Castro

  • HOST ORGANIZATION, COUNTRY

    Universidad de Lisboa, Portugal

  • DESCRIPTION

    Obesity is a public health problem, associated with an increased risk of developing chronic liver disease. Fat accumulation in the area of the liver plays a key role in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a dysfunction that compromises people’s health by causing liver failure or cancer.

    A malfunction of the adipose tissue, due to the accumulation of cells that form the fatty tissue, is one of the causes of this disease, which is closely associated with obesity.

    The project focuses on research into new proteins that play a central role in adipose tissue by controlling glucose metabolism in the body, which has harmful effects on the liver.

    The aim is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the body’s metabolism in order to prevent and design new treatments to combat obesity and associated health problems, such as NAFLD.

  • CONSORTIUM
    (PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, ORGANIZATION, COUNTRY)

    • Jesús María Bañales (Co-Leader), Asociación Instituto Biodonostia, Spain

    • Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar, CIC bioGUNE, Spain

    • Kristina Schoonjans , École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Swiss

  • PROJECT TITLE

    Targeting the adipose tissue to treat fatty liver: role of TGR5

  • BUDGET

    €500,000

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