Science, Space and Technology News 2024
A UCSF study discovered that suppressing the protein KLF-15 can turn ordinary white fat cells into calorie-burning beige fat cells, a breakthrough that may explain why previous drug trials failed. This finding could pave the way for new, effective weight-loss drugs that convert white fat into beige fat, potentially offering a more sustainable method for combating obesity.
“A lot of people thought this wasn’t feasible,” said Brian Feldman, MD, PhD, the Walter L. Miller, MD Distinguished Professor in Pediatric Endocrinology and senior author of the study. “We showed not only that this approach works to turn these white fat cells into beige ones, but also that the bar to doing so isn’t as high as we’d thought.”
Humans can naturally turn white fat cells into beige ones in response to diet or a cold environment. Scientists tried to mimic this by coaxing stem cells into becoming mature beige fat cells. But stem cells are rare, and Feldman wanted to find a switch he could flip to turn white fat cells directly into beige ones.Of mice and humans
A different drug targeting the Adrb1 receptor in humans is more likely to work, according to Feldman, and it could have significant advantages over the new, injectable weight-loss drugs that are aimed at suppressing appetite and blood sugar. Feldman’s approach might avoid side effects like nausea because its activity would be limited to fat deposits, rather than affecting the brain. And the effects would be long-lasting because fat cells are relatively long-lived.
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