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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Implantation of Engineered Adipocytes Suppresses Tumor Progression in Cancer Models