UCSF Scientists Discover How Hungry Fat Cells Could Someday Starve Cancer to Death

Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences professor Nadav Ahituv, PhD, is the senior author of a paper appearing Feb. 4 in Nature Biotechnology about a new approach to treating cancer that uses engineered fat cells to deprive tumors of nutrition.

UCSF researchers used the gene editing technology CRISPR to turn ordinary white fat cells into “beige” fat cells, which voraciously consume calories to make heat.

The approach even worked when the fat cells were implanted in mice far from the sites of their tumors. Relying on common procedures like this could speed its use as a new form of cellular therapy.

“We already routinely remove fat cells with liposuction and put them back via plastic surgery,” said Ahituv, who is also director of the UCSF Institute for Human Genetics. “These fat cells can be easily manipulated in the lab and safely placed back into the body, making them an attractive platform for cellular therapy, including for cancer.”

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UCSF Scientists Discover How Hungry Fat Cells Could Someday Starve Cancer to Death 

Implantation of Engineered Adipocytes Suppresses Tumor Progression in Cancer Models

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About the School: The UCSF School of Pharmacy aims to solve the most pressing health care problems and strives to ensure that each patient receives the safest, most effective treatments. Our discoveries seed the development of novel therapies, and our researchers consistently lead the nation in NIH funding. The School’s doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program, with its unique emphasis on scientific thinking, prepares students to be critical thinkers and leaders in their field.