Interviews with Faculty Researchers

– Interview with Prof. Zhu Yuyan
Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Nutrition

Prof. Zhu Yuyan studies obesity as a complex metabolic condition shaped by genetics, lifestyle and stress. She emphasizes that adipose tissue is a vital endocrine organ for energy regulation and that excessive fat loss can harm metabolic and immune health, underscoring the need to maintain healthy fat tissue.

Her research targets both prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders, aiming to uncover mechanisms that guide strategies to improve metabolic health and extend healthy lifespan. Prof. Zhu’s team focuses on adipose tissue regulation, lipid and cholesterol metabolism, and adipocytes’ role in systemic energy balance, exploring how functional dietary components and nutrients mitigate obesity and related syndromes while enhancing adipose tissue function through adiponectin signalling.

Central to this work is the study of white adipose tissue (WAT), a key regulator of systemic metabolism and a major cholesterol reservoir containing up to half of the body’s cholesterol in obesity. By examining how cholesterol homeostasis in WAT influences endocrine and energy-storage functions, the team seeks to establish mechanistic foundations for safer, personalized anti-obesity strategies that integrate dietary interventions with other therapeutic approaches.

To accelerate discovery, Prof. Zhu’s team integrates AI-driven molecular screening with in vitro and in vivo studies to identify natural and synthetic compounds that activate adiponectin receptors or enhance adiponectin expression. Promising candidates are validated experimentally, with several already shown to boost adiponectin signalling and improve energy metabolism.

Her lab also examines how environmental pollutants affect metabolic health. Under energy-dense dietary conditions, they found that oral exposure to 6-PPD at current environmental levels has only a minor metabolic impact in mice. In contrast, rising concerns over microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) led the team to identify their potential obesogenic effects: nanoplastics reduce lipid mobilization in white adipose tissue of obese mice, positioning lipolysis-related parameters as potential clinical indicators for MP and NP impact.

Prof. Zhu is launching a clinical study on obesity-related fatty liver disease, testing a repurposed dietary supplement that boosts energy metabolism through adiponectin signalling. Her goal is to create safe, effective, food-based strategies that turn metabolic research into health solutions.

滋養脂肪, 培育健康：功能性脂肪組織的研究

– 朱玉燕教授專訪
食品科學及營養學系副教授

朱玉燕教授致力於研究肥胖這一由遺傳、生活方式與壓力共同塑造的複雜代謝疾病。她強調，脂肪組織是能量調節的重要內分泌器官，過度減脂會損害代謝與免疫健康，因此必須重視健康脂肪組織的維持。

她的研究同時聚焦肥胖相关的代謝疾病的預防與治療，旨在揭示關鍵機制，以制定改善代謝健康、延長健康壽命的策略。團隊重點研究脂肪組織中的脂質與膽固醇代謝，以及脂肪細胞在全身能量平衡中的作用，並探索功能性膳食成分與營養素如何增強脂肪組織功能，改善肥胖及相關症候群。

她研究的核心是白色脂肪組織(WAT)这一全身代謝的關鍵調節器，也是主要的膽固醇儲存庫之一，在肥胖狀態下可容納高達人體一半的膽固醇。團隊透過研究WAT中的膽固醇穩態如何影響其內分泌與能量儲存功能，旨在為整合飲食干預與其他療法、更安全且個人化的抗肥胖策略奠定機制基礎。

為加速研發，朱教授團隊將人工智慧驅動的分子篩選與體外、體內研究相結合，以識別能激活脂肪因子增強脂聯素表達或脂聯素受體的天然與合成化合物。其中極具潛力的候選物質已通過實驗驗證，部分證實可有效增強脂聯素信號並改善能量代謝。

她的實驗室也研究環境污染物對代謝健康的影響。針對日益受到關注的微塑膠(MP)與纳米塑膠(NP)颗粒，朱教授團隊發現纳米塑膠颗粒會減少肥胖小鼠白色脂肪組織中的脂質動員能力，這使得脂解相關參數有望成為評估MP與NP影響的潛在臨床指標。

朱教授正啟動一項關於肥胖相關脂肪肝疾病的臨床研究，將測試一種能透過脂聯素信號通路提升能量代謝的膳食補充劑。她的目標是創造安全有效、以食物為基礎的策略，將代謝研究成果轉化為實質的健康解決方案。