Shingo Kajimura

The common theme in the Kajimura laboratory is multidisciplinary attempts to understand the molecular basis of bioenergetics in health and disease. The overarching goal is to generate a blueprint for rewiring the molecular circuitry of bioenergetics by defined factors, thereby improving metabolic health. One of our particular focuses has been the molecular and developmental understandings of mitochondria-rich thermogenic fat cells (brown and beige adipocytes). My lab identified the central determinants of brown/beige adipocyte biogenesis, maintenance, and function, including the processes referred to as the "browning" of white fat in which mitochondria-enriched beige adipocytes emerge within white adipose tissues. We demonstrated that the browning-associated metabolic program, involving mitochondrial biogenesis/clearance, thermogenesis, and tissue remodeling, plays vital roles in energy homeostasis at the systemic and tissue levels. Conversely, we demonstrate that a defect in the regulatory pathways causes obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and adipose tissue fibrosis. More recent works in my lab uncovered novel mitochondrial metabolite carriers for amino acids, e.g., branched-chain amino acids. Together, our research makes a fundamental impact on the field of molecular metabolism, cancer, and aging.