Talk by Prof. Mirko Trajkovski

The main interests of our work are the mechanisms underlying metabolic diseases, primarily obesity and insulin resistance. Mammals have two types of fat: brown and white, with opposing functions. Main role of the brown fat is to burn lipids and sugars to produce heat. Brown fat cells also emerge in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (named beige cells) in response to cold, a process known as browning. Promotion of increased brown fat development in humans and experimental mice leads to increased energy expenditure and lean and healthy phenotype without causing dysfunction in other tissues, suggesting the manipulation of the fat stores as an important therapeutic objective. The gut microbiota co-develops with the host and its composition is influenced by several physiological changes, which affect the whole-body metabolism and energy balance. With our integrative research program we are aiming to understand the mechanisms of white adipose tissue browning and the intestinal plasticity in regulating metabolic homeostasis and development of metabolic diseases from the gut microbiota related perspective.