Ricerc@Sapienza

Metabolic diseases are based on a dysregulated crosstalk between various cells such as adipocytes, hepatocytes and immune cells. Generally, hormones and metabolites mediate this crosstalk that becomes alterated in metabolic syndrome including obesity and diabetes. Recently, Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are emerging as a novel way of cell-to-cell communication and represent an attractive strategy to transfer fundamental informations between the cells through the transport of proteins and nucleic acids.

Biliverdin reductase-A (BVR-A) is a serine/threonine/tyrosine kinase involved in the regulation of insulin signaling. In vitro studies have demonstrated that BVR-A is a substrate of the insulin receptor and regulates IRS1 by avoiding its aberrant activation, and in animal model of obesity the loss of hepatic BVR-A has been associated with glucose/insulin alterations and fatty liver disease. However, no studies exist in humans.