Technologies

Researchers in Prof. Brian Feldman’s laboratory have developed a patented drug screen to identify compounds that could potentially treat obesity and metabolic disease by converting cells to calorie-burning brown fat. This screen identifies individual agents that inhibit the hormone nuclear receptor vitamin D receptor (VDR) and thereby program either adipose precursor cells or other cells (including fibroblasts) to become brown fat. Brown fat is a thermogenic tissue that increases energy expenditure, burning calories and altering systemic metabolism to improve insulin sensitivity. VDR is a critical regulatory component to determine whether fat cells become the brown tissue that expends energy or the white tissue that stores it. VDR inhibitors identified by this screen could offer a first-in-class approach for treating for patients with obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases by altering the composition of adipose tissue.