Encapsulation of Genetically Modified Preadipocytes for Potential Treatment of Metabolic Disorders
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that affects millions of people.The location of the excess fat dictates the health risk.Excess visceral fat increases the risk of fatal diseases like type II diabetes and certain cancers.Not all forms of obesity can be treated with traditional methods like diet, exercise, and drugs because of physiological differences between individuals.There is a need for new treatments that directly target visceral fat as well as treat the biochemistry that comprises the obesity disease.This dissertation is designed to investigate potential treatments for obesity and metabolic diseases by using genetically modified adipocytes.Cell lines can be engineered to be thermogenic or to overproduce hormones that regulate metabolism.However, there is not currently a safe way to genetically modify preexisting adipocytes and transplantations of modified adipocytes require immunosuppression.We developed a solution to these problems by encapsulating engineered fibroblasts in an immunoprotective poly-L-lysine membrane, allowing for controlled delivery of genetically modified cells into the host's tissue.We hypothesized that encapsulating stably transduced preadipocytes, designed to be more thermogenic or overproduce hormones that regulate metabolism, could attenuate weight gain and improve metabolic
Author: David DiSilvestro
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2522466818