Linked to serious health problems including cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, obesity affects more than a third of adults in the United States. Presently, there are few safe and effective nonsurgical therapeutic interventions available to patients with obesity.
Now, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers has demonstrated that a metabolic regulatory molecule called Them1 prevents fat burning in cells by blocking access to their fuel source. Led by microscopy experts, the study may contribute to the development of a new type of obesity treatment. The team’s findings were published in Nature Communications.
To help explain how the protein Them1 turns off heat production, the authors used light and electron microscopy to observe Them1 in action in mouse brown fat cells grown in the laboratory.
“Them1 is an interesting molecule,” said the senior author. “If you inhibit or block its expression, metabolism increases and that reduces body weight.”
The experiments showed that when the cells are stimulated to burn fat, a chemical modification causes Them1 molecules to spread out, or diffuse, throughout the cell. This frees the cellular powerhouses called mitochondria to efficiently turn the cell’s fat stores into energy. But when the stimulation stops, Them1 molecules quickly reorganize into a structure called a biomolecular condensate. Situated between the mitochondria and the fats they use as fuel, the condensed Them1 molecules limit energy production.
“It turned out to be so incredibly interesting,” said the author. “We asked other microscopy experts whether they had ever seen anything like the unusual images we found in resting cells. Using very sophisticated electron microscopy techniques, we were able to show — for the first time, as far as we know — what the bimolecular condensate looks like in electron microscopy.”
“The study explains a new mechanism that regulates metabolism,” said the author. “Them1 hacks the energy pipeline and cuts off the fuel supply to the energy-burning mitochondria. Humans also have brown fat and produce more Them1 in cold conditions, so the findings may have exciting implications for the treatment of obesity.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23595-x
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fthioesterase&filter=22
Molecular switch that regulates fat burning in mice
- 1,414 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
Functional heterogeneity of…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Gut bacteria produced compo…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Role of ECM in brain memory
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
All individuals with two co…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Autoantibody patterns in pa…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Other Top Stories
Metabolic Heterogeneity in Human Lung Tumors
Read more
How Gut Inflammation Sparks Colon Cancer
Read more
KRAS interaction with a protein may lead to cancer
Read more
Protein that switches cancers from inflammation to proliferation id…
Read more
Mechanism of maintaining stemness in breast cancer stem cells
Read more
Protocols
Mime-seq 2.0: a method to s…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Improved detection of DNA r…
By newseditor
Posted 09 May
Single-cell adhesive profil…
By newseditor
Posted 07 May
Parasympathetic neurons der…
By newseditor
Posted 07 May
Non-invasive measurements o…
By newseditor
Posted 05 May
Publications
Pharmacological induction o…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
The Effect of Glycine and N…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Diindoles produced from com…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Endothelial cell expression…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Senescence: A DNA damage re…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar