Yu Zhao, PhD | Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College; Yingyi Zhang, PhD; Qianying Lu, PhD
Competition Sponsor: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Awardee Year: 2024
Functional changes in adipose tissue are closely linked to the aging process, and the thermogenic properties of brown and beige fat offer a novel perspective for studying metabolic diseases and aging. However, the precise mechanisms and methods for inducing brown and beige fat and activating its anti-aging activity remain unclear. In our previous research, we utilized fat transplantation and ex vivo gene-editing techniques to uncover a new molecular mechanism for the browning of white fat and successfully established a long-lived mouse model, Fbf1tm1a/tm1a. We discovered that the loss of the cilia gating gene FBF1 significantly promotes the browning of white fat precursor cells, creating a unique “healthy obesity” phenotype. Transplanting these special “healthy obese” fat cells back into mice can improve their metabolic levels and extend their lifespan by 50%. We will further explore the potential of fat transplantation technology in the anti-aging process, optimize the transplantation method to enhance efficiency, and conduct a comprehensive assessment of its long-term effects and safety. The advantages of this project over other anti-aging technologies or products are (1) fat transplantation, as a mature technique in the field of medical aesthetics, has high safety when applied to the field of longevity treatment with low safety risks, (2) ex vivo gene-editing technology of adipocytes eliminates off-target effects of editing plasmids or viruses in the body, and (3) autologous fat transplantation reduces immune rejection reactions, resulting in fewer side effects.