Immune-competent adipose tissue spheroids for ex-vivo modelling of lipid metabolism during metaflammation (P24*)

• Subject Area: Immunology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432325352

Macrophage are key regulators of lipid metabolism of parenchymal cells in the adipose tissue. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the macrophage crosstalk, leading to cellular remodelling in the adipose tissue upon diet-induced obesity (DIO) and metaflammation, remain not fully understood. We will employ advanced, immune-competent models, consisting of primary murine- and human-derived WAT spheroids supplemented with macrophages, to mechanistically dissect how adipocyte functions are controlled by immune cells and vice versa, under physiological and obese conditions.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1454: Metaflammation and Cellular Programming
• Applicant Institution: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Christoph Thiele; Professorin Dr. Ana Vazquez-Armendariz