Professor gets grant to study brain molecule that controls fat storage
Ya-Xiong Tao, assistant professor in Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a three-year, $219,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how the melanocortin-3 receptor functions. The melanocortin-3 receptor is a molecule in the brain that controls energy balance, especially fat storage. Excessive fat storage in humans results in dramatic increases in risks for type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer. Tao's research will help explain how this molecule functions. The results obtained will help with the design of new drugs targeted at this molecule as a novel therapeutic approach for treating human obesity. He recently gave a talk on his findings at the 90th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Francisco.
Tags: health, medicine, veterinary