We investigate neuroimmune molecular mechanisms underlying obesity.
The Domingos laboratory researches neuroimmune mechanisms underlying obesity. They discovered neuro-adipose junctions, between white adipocytes and sympathetic neurons, that are necessary and sufficient for fat mass reduction via norepinephrine (NE) signalling. Moreover, they discovered Sympathetic neuron-Associated Macrophages (SAMs) that import and metabolize NE. Abrogation of SAM function promotes long-term amelioration of obesity independently of food intake. These findings inspired the development of a new class of anti-obesity compounds named sympathofacilitators, which do not enter the brain, nor have the typical cardiovascular side effects of centrally acting sympathomimetic drugs. Sympathofacilitator drugs act as an energy sink by coupling thermogenesis to active heat dissipation. Ana Domingos is a member of the advisory board of Cell Metabolism and her lab has been funded by HHMI, Wellcome Trust, ERC, HFSP, EMBO, among others.
© Guttenplan, Kevin A. et al. (2018) Play It Again, SAM: Macrophages Control Peripheral Fat Metabolism, Trends in Immunology, and Conor A. Bradley (2017). Specialized macrophages contribute to obesity. Nature Reviews Endocrinology.
© Lady Margaret Hall / Dominik Osvald / www.dominikosvald.com
Funders
The Domingos Lab is proud to be sponsored by the following funding bodies:
Interviews
In the media
Media coverage of Nature Medicine 2017, Nature Communications 2017, and Cell 2015:
DPAG News
Ana Domingos Awarded Carl Ludwig Distinguished Lectureship Award
5 April 2022
Congratulations are in order for Associate Professor Ana Domingos, who has been awarded the 2023 Carl Ludwig Distinguished Lectureship from the American Physiological Society.
Ana Domingos appointed Editor-in-Chief for distinguished American Physiological Society journal
30 November 2021
Congratulations are in order to Associate Professor Ana Domingos on her appointment as Editor-in-Chief for the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Scientists Decipher How NeuroImmune Interactions Burn Deep Fat
20 August 2021
A pioneering collaborative mouse study from an international team of researchers including DPAG's Associate Professor Ana Domingos published in Nature offers new therapeutic avenues for reducing visceral fat stores, which have been associated with cardiovascular disease and multiple types of cancer.
New review reveals proof of concept for an anti-obesity immunotherapy
2 July 2021
The Domingos lab has published a new opinion piece in Science investigating the implications of a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center study that lays the foundations for a potential new anti-obesity treatment in the form of targeting adipose tissue-resident macrophages.
Ana Domingos joins the Cell Metabolism Advisory Board
6 October 2020
Congratulations are in order to Associate Professor Ana Domingos on her appointment to the Advisory Board of the top research journal dedicated to publishing novel, impactful papers spanning basic to clinical metabolic research.
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