Dr. Susana Rovira-Llopis, Postdoctoral Fellow at Joslin Diabetes Center has received a small grant award for her project “Study of the mechanisms involved in exercise-induced adipokine secretion by generation of a CRISPR transgenic mouse”, which will use the Center’s Transgenic Core.
Dr. Rovira-Llopis is an early career investigator in the lab of Dr. Laurie Goodyear. This project will generate an HA-tagged G protein-coupled receptor 81 (GPR81) floxed mouse model using the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology. GPR81 is a specific lactate receptor highly expressed in adipose tissue and involved in the regulation of lipolysis. The mouse model will determine the role of this lactate sensor in regulating the beneficial effects of exercise training on adipose tissue phenotype, adipokine profile and systemic metabolism. These studies will provide fundamental information on the role of GPR81 in adipose tissue biology and determine novel mechanisms by which metabolite sensing controls adipokine expression and secretion in response to exercise.