Molecular / Cellular techniques

The department of Human Biology has an excellent ML-I and ML-II (GMO approved) cell culture facility that was completely renewed in 2016. The facility includes several flow cabinets, CO2 incubators and a fluorescence microscope for live cell imaging. Experiments are performed with different fat, muscle and liver cell lines, such as 3T3-L1, SGBS, C2C12, L6 and hepG2 cells. In addition, a biobank of human primary cells (hMADS, satellite cells and hepatocytes) has been established from well-phenotyped donors.

The cell experiments include state-of-the-art in vitro technology for the study of metabolic processes including radioactive tracers, Seahorse XF analyzers to measure oxygen consumption rate (OCR), and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) of live cells, and loss-and-gain of function experiments using shRNA and viral transduction. The aim of the cell work is to gain more mechanistic insight into the metabolic processes involved in the regulation of substrate metabolism in human metabolic health and diseases.