The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center was awarded a $679,000 Team Science Supplement award to explore the potential of a novel, artificially designed hybrid growth factor to regulate the metabolism of fat and cancer cells.

The collaborative efforts of investigators at AIMRC and the MaineHealth Institute for Research are expected to yield valuable clues in the rational design of therapeutics against metabolic dysfunction leading to the onset of cancers.

The scientific theme of the AIMRC, an NIH-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, is to understand the role of cell and tissue metabolism in disease through advanced imaging, bioenergetics and data science. The long-term objective of the AIMRC is to establish a sustainable interdisciplinary research center that can support biomedical research at the U of A, foster emerging strengths in metabolic research on campus and collaborate with other centers, such as MaineHealth Institute for Research.

The team science project comprises multiple investigators who offer different perspectives and expertise to address complex basic, behavioral, clinical and/or translational research questions with complementary approaches. The overall goal of the AIMRC's Team Science Supplement award is to characterize the impact of a novel chimeric fibroblast growth factor (FGF) on dysregulated metabolism, as dysregulated metabolism is considered a high-risk factor for cancer development. Modulating an individual's metabolic condition presents a potential treatment option to mitigate the risk of cancer development.

A multidisciplinary team has been assembled, bringing together expertise in structural biology, FGF biology, adipose metabolism, protein synthesis and two-photon microscopy.

• Suresh Thallapuranam, director of the Bioenergetics Core at AIMRC, will lead the design, production and biophysical characterization of a novel, highly potent recombinant chimera, which combines the stabilized N-terminal domain of FGF1 with the C-terminal domain of FGF21.
• To assess the effects of this chimera, Dylan Girodat's lab will perform experiments using Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) cells, known for their predisposition to cancer phenotypes.
• Additionally, Igor Prudovsky and Matthew Lynes of the MaineHealth Institute for Research will investigate the impacts of superFGF1-FGF21 on cultures of white and brown preadipocytes.
• Rajaram, director of the Imaging & Spectroscopy Core at AIMRC, will measure ROS levels and NADH/FAD ratios in cells treated with FGF1-FGF21 using multiphoton microscopy, providing critical insights into the biochemical responses to the treatment.

"The Team Science Supplement brings together an excellent team of researchers," Thallapuranam says. "We strongly believe that research conducted by the team may also lead to valuable clues for the design of new therapeutics against metabolic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis." 

The results of this pilot study will lay the foundation for future multi-PI R01 submissions and collaborative research between AIMRC and MHIR to decipher the correlation between metabolic dysfunction and cancer.

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About the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center: AIMRC was established in April 2021 with Phase I COBRE funding from NIGMS (P20GM139768). The AIMRC is a research center located at the University of Arkansas focused on understanding the role of cell and tissue metabolism in disease, development, and repair through research involving advanced imaging, bioenergetics, and data science.