Researchers at the University of Bonn boost fat-burning
There is a particularly high number of Gq proteins in brown fat cells
An international team of scientists working with Prof. Pfeifer, under the leadership of the University of Bonn, with colleagues from San Diego and Bethesda (both USA), Gothenburg (Sweden) and the Universities of Heidelberg and Leipzig, has discovered a "switch" in the fat cells of mice which can be used to accelerate fat burning. The researchers observed that there is a particularly high number of receptors in brown fat cells which bind to the Gq protein. The Gq protein performs an important function in information transfer.
The scientists activated the Gq protein in the mouse fat cells and as a result, the number and quality of the brown cells decreased. "On the other hand, if Gq is blocked with an inhibitor, more brown fat cells mature," says Ph.D. student Katarina Klepac from Prof. Pfeifer's team. The same applies to the beige fat cells on which the researchers are pinning their hopes. They can convert from white to brown fat cells and are also involved in "burning" excess energy stores. If the Gq protein is blocked in them, more brown "fat burners" form.
The conversion also works for human fat cells
Does the inhibition of the Gq proteins only work in mouse cells or also in human fat cells? The team of researchers conducted the experiments – which had previously been performed on rodent cells – also on human cells which they cultured in the laboratory. "Even in human fat cells, it was shown that brown fat cells can grow much better once Gq proteins were blocked," says Prof. Pfeifer.
According to the researcher, this could be a highly promising potential starting point for the development of active substances which boost fat burning in obese patients. "To date, there are no drugs which directly cause white fat cells to convert into brown fat cells," says Prof. Pfeifer. It will still be some time until suitable active substances are available on the market.
Original publication
Katarina Klepac, Ana Kilić, Thorsten Gnad, Loren M. Brown, Beate Herrmann, Andrea Wilderman, Aileen Balkow, Anja Glöde, Katharina Simon, Martin E. Lidell, Matthias J. Betz, Sven Enerbäck, Jürgen Wess, Marc Freichel, Matthias Blüher, Gabi König, Evi Kostenis, Paul A. Insel & Alexander Pfeifer; "The Gq signalling pathway inhibits brown and beige adipose tissue"; Nature Comm.; 2016
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Original publication
Katarina Klepac, Ana Kilić, Thorsten Gnad, Loren M. Brown, Beate Herrmann, Andrea Wilderman, Aileen Balkow, Anja Glöde, Katharina Simon, Martin E. Lidell, Matthias J. Betz, Sven Enerbäck, Jürgen Wess, Marc Freichel, Matthias Blüher, Gabi König, Evi Kostenis, Paul A. Insel & Alexander Pfeifer; "The Gq signalling pathway inhibits brown and beige adipose tissue"; Nature Comm.; 2016
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