Nadia Nielsen Aalling

CNS-derived biomarkers for diabetes progression & remission

Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a life-long disease characterized by dysfunctional glucose regulation. Recent years’ research indicates that the brain is actively involved in the progression and remission of T2D. A peptide, FGF1, have been found to induce remission of diabetes for >4 weeks after being administered directly into the brain of an animal model of T2D once.

This project will investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the anti-diabetic effects of FGF1 by measuring the levels of 1) hundreds of molecules in the blood and in a region of the brain, the hypothalamus, known for its role in glucose homeostasis and of 2) thousands of genes individual cells of this region, before and after injecting FGF1 into the brain of the diabetic mice. These findings will be related to the levels of molecules measured in blood and CSF samples from T2D patients to identify biomarkers predicting T2D progression and to understand the mechanisms behind the anti-diabetic effects of FGF1.

The results may potentially push forward the development of T2D treatment.

Mentors

Basic Mentor: Associate Professor Tune H. Pers, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), University of Copenhagen

Clinical Mentor: Associate Professor Cristina Legido-Quigley, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen