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Glucoregulation by leptin: The missing piece to the puzzle of tissue repair?

Year:
2022
Duration:
24 months
Approved budget:
$150,000.00
Researchers:
Associate Professor Alexander Tups
Host:
University of Otago
Health issue:
Diabetes
Proposal type:
Explorer Grant
Lay summary
It is well known that individuals with obesity or type 2 diabetes have severely impaired tissue repair, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. We and others could show that the body weight- and glucoregulatory hormone leptin is crucial for tissue repair. In this application, we propose a novel mechanism that may add the missing piece to the puzzle of tissue repair. Rather than being an indirect complication of metabolic disease, we propose that tissue repair is facilitated by the glucoregulatory action of leptin, a function of the hormone that is typically impaired in metabolic disease. Furthermore, we seek to investigate whether an evolutionary very old signalling pathway mediates these effects, which we have identified as a novel target of leptin. Our study may lead to new treatments for tissue repair, including wound dressings that may contain long acting leptin versions.