Out-licensing

Development of Lean Transgenic Animals: Elucidating the Molecular Parameters Involved in Fat Metabolism

Introduction/Background

Obesity is a significant risk factor for many serious illnesses, such as heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes. To better understand the mechanisms that lead to obesity and to develop strategies to control certain types of obesity, a better knowledge of the molecular events that regulate fat cell differentiation and fat storage is needed at the organism level.

Aims/Hypothesis

Transgenic animals with altered fat metabolism provide a unique opportunity to probe the relationships between gene expression and fat metabolism.

Research

The invention relates to a transgenic animal whose genomic DNA includes a gene comprising a C/EBPa promoter operably linked to a DNA sequence encoding a C/EBPß polypeptide, wherein the transgenic animal exhibits reduced accumulation of fat in its white adipose tissue, as compared to a reference animal whose genomic DNA does not contain the gene.

Conclusion

The invention relates to transgenic animals that exhibit reduced white adipose tissue. These animals serve as important animal models for elucidating the molecular parameters involved in fat metabolism.

Relevance/Opportunity

Please enquire quoting reference no. 13A-881224 if you are interested in forming licensing or codevelopment partnerships.

Preclinical

US6255556; TWI304132;