Caveolopathies - insulin resistance, lipid metablism

• Applicant: Dr. Michael Boschmann
• Subject Area: Anatomy and Physiology
• Term: from 2007 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 34181657

Caveolae are specialized cell-membrane domains that maintain integrity, trafficking, and signal transduction. In muscle, important proteins for caveolar structure and function are caveolin 3 and cavin1/ptrf. Patients lacking caveolae have rippling muscle, muscular dystrophy, lipodystrophy and cardiac conduction defects. Cav-3 knockout mice are insulin resistant, have decreased glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, exhibit impaired glucose tolerance, and have increased serum lipids. Cav-3 is also a binding partner of the β2- adrenergic receptor, suggesting an important role in catecholamine-induced lipolysis. None of these features have been studied comprehensively in man. We will study the role of insulin signaling and lipid metabolism in caveolinopathies in vivo and in vitro.

• DFG Programme: Clinical Research Units
• Subproject of: KFO 192: Skeletal Muscle Growth Regulation and Dysregulation
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Ulrich Kintscher