Scientists reprogram fat cells to burn off calories

Date: Dec-15-2014 Scientists have discovered the genetic mechanism through which

calorie-storing white fat cells can be reprogrammed to become more like

calorie-burning brown fat cells. The finding could lead to new drugs that

target the mechanism to help treat obesity.

Researchers reprogrammed calorie-storing white fat cells into energy-burning brown fat cells.
Image credit: University of Southern Denmark.

Like other mammals, humans have lots of white fat and not so much

brown fat. White fat stores excess calories for release to energy-hungry

organs during fasting, whereas brown fat is mostly used to burn calories to

produce heat.

When we regularly consume more calories than we use, the excess calories

build up in white fat, and we become overweight and obese.

Too much white fat around the abdomen is linked to metabolic dysfunction,

insulin resistance and heart disease.

Scientists are interested in the possibility of changing the balance

between white fat and brown fat as a way to tackle obesity.

One such avenue is

the genetic reprogramming of white fat cells into brown fat cells.

Now, in a new study led by the University of Southern Denmark and published

in the journal Genes & Development, researchers describe their

success in reprogramming energy-storing white fat cells to behave more like

brown fat cells.

They call the reprogrammed cells "brite" fat cells - where "brite" is short

for "brown in white."

Genetic reprogramming creates 'brite' or 'brown in white' fat cells

The goal the researchers are pursuing is to transform white fat cells in white fat

tissue into brite fat cells that burn calories as heat instead of storing

it.

Susanne Mandrup, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology at the University of Southern Denmark, explains their work

with fat cells or adipocytes:

"We have investigated how the genome of white adipocytes is reprogrammed

during browning using advanced genome sequencing technologies. We stimulated

browning in human white adipocytes by a drug used to treat type II diabetes

and compared white and 'brite' fat cells."

She says they found that "brite" fat cells "have distinct gene programs

which, when active, make these cells particularly energy-consuming."

By finding the areas of the genome that are directly involved in the

reprogramming, the team has also identified another important factor - a gene

found in all fat cells that is required for the reprogramming to take place.

The essential gene is called regulatory protein KLF11 (Kruppel Like Factor-

11).

Researchers foresee 'browning factors' as future targets for obesity

drugs

First author and PhD student Anne Loft says finding the mechanism behind

brite fat cells and the areas of the genome involved potentially means, "in

the future we can target drugs to activate the genomic regions and browning

factors like KLF11 in the treatment of obesity."

Meanwhile,  Medical News Today recently learned how researchers

from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that long-term endurance training changes the

epigenetic pattern of human skeletal muscle.

If you think of genes as being the "hardware" of genetic programming, then

epigenes are like the "software" - they change the behavior of the hardware,

for instance depending on environment changes, using chemical switches in a

process known as methylation.

In that study, the researchers compared the muscle of trained and untrained

legs in cyclists that had cycled with one leg only for 3 months and found

strong associations between the change in activity of 4,000 genes and

epigenetic methylation.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Not to be reproduced without permission.

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Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.