HARNESSING MACROPHAGES TO FUEL ADAPTIVE, NON-SHIVERING THERMOGENESIS – MACBURN

Obesity and its comorbidities have increased dramatically but treatments remain scarce, pressing the need to develop innovative therapies. In this context, targeting the energy balance by increasing energy expenditure currently holds promise to design the next anti-obesity drugs. Beyond physical activity, one mean to burn energy is to favor adipose tissue non-shivering thermogenesis. Recently, macrophages (Macs) have been implicated in non-shivering thermogenesis but our global comprehension of the ways Macs participate to this process remains sparse. Our preliminary data revealed that Mac populations with distinct origins modulate in a depot-specific manner the program induced by different pro-thermogenic stimuli. Our proposal MACBURN proposes to uncover novel macrophage-controlled pathways that could be harnessed to develop therapeutic approaches that fuel non-shivering thermogenesis and meet the anti-obesity therapeutic demand.