Obesity-driven microglial activation – functional role of cerebral sterol metabolism (A09)

• Subject Area: Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy, Radiobiology
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 209933838

Phytosterols are exclusively derived by plant food. In our previous work, we found that phytosterol (PS) accumulation in brain is reversible under obesity-related high fat diet and that PS concentrations are in vivo and in vitro inversely correlated with COX-2 and microglia activation. In the next funding period, we want to understand how phytosterols and fatty acids cross the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) from circulation and how phytosterols prevent inflammatoric activation of microglia. The transport of Phytosterol and fatty acid into the brain will be investigated using established in vitro BBB models. The cellular inflammatory response will be investigated in adipose and brain tissue of established mouse and human microglia models as well isolated lipid rafts.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1052: Obesity Mechanisms
• Applicant Institution: Universität Leipzig
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Ingo Bechmann; Professorin Dr. Uta Ceglarek