Investigating leptin target cells in obese pediatric patients: implications for obesity and immune response to cancer

• Grant number: 24/21021-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Giovanna Rosa Degasperi
• Grantee: Giovanna Rosa Degasperi
• Host Institution: Escola de Ciências da Vida (ECV). Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC-CAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Campinas
• Associated researchers: Alessandra Gambero ; Dimitri Sokolowskei ; Livia Aparecida Davila Bitencourt Pascoal Biazzo ; Philipp E Scherer

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity is increasing among children and adolescents and may contribute to the development of tumors in childhood or lead to clinical complications in obese patients undergoing treatment. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of metabolic disorders such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, and with a compromised immune system. The accumulation of fat in adipose tissue leads to changes in its cellularity, as well as in the production of hormones and cytokines. Leptin hormones is produced to provide adipose tissue mass and, in addition to regulating satiety and body weight, influence the survival, regularity, and metabolism of tumor cells and the immune system. Given this scenario, the project aims to better understanding the role of leptin in immune system cells in obese children, focusing on CD8+ T cells. The results obtained help to understand how these cells respond to the antitumor condition in obesity. The investigation of leptin in this scenario opens up perspectives on the role of hormones as a new therapeutic target associated with checkpoint inhibitors. (AU)