The Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
is an interdisciplinary institution at the University of Lübeck. It promotes research in the area of mutual interactions among the brain, behavior and metabolism as well as its applications in experimental and clinical medicine.
Interdisciplinary and translational Cooperation
In particular, the CBBM promotes cooperation among the participating institutions, the development of research-related infrastructure and joint efforts in grant proposals.
Facilities
State-of-the-art laboratory units will be made available to all the research groups such as metabolic laboratory, neuroendocrinological and neurophysiological laboratories as well as a Metabolic Core Unit in which body composition and energy expenditure of human subjects can be determined.
Hepatocyte clock as potential therapeutic target in liver disease
De Assis and colleagues investigated how disruption of the hepatocyte circadian clock influences progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Using hepatocyte-specific Bmal1 knockout mice, they found accelerated disease progression characterized by increased hepatic cholesterol accumulation, inflammation, and fibrosis. Transcriptomic and lipidomic analyses revealed disrupted cholesterol metabolism and altered expression of key cholesterol-regulating genes, with Chrebp identified as a possible co-regulator.Complementary in-vitro experiments showed that Bmal1 specifically controlled cholesterol accumulation independent of Chrebp. Human patient data further supported altered circadian timing in MASH, highlighting the hepatocyte clock as an important regulator and potential therapeutic target in liver disease.
Hepatocyte Circadian Clocks Control Cholesterol Metabolism and Protect From Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH). Monteiro de Assis LV, Jegodzinski L, Inderhees J, Wowro SJ, Affonso JM, Heyde I, Fischer EL, von Schönfels W, Schenk A, Roßner F, Schupp M, Marquardt JU, Demir M, Oster H. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026 May