TimmyHObesity's Cellular Traffic Jam
January 8th 2009 22:36
Research in mice reveals why brain cells become deaf to appetite-suppressing signals.
The fat hormone leptin was once thought of as a potential obesity wonder drug, but the reality has proved more complex. Leptin is a signal released by fat cells that tells the brain when to stop eating, and initially it showed promise in treating obesity in mice. But now it is known that obese humans actually have high levels of leptin--their brains just become deaf to its signal. This condition, called leptin resistance, has proved trickier to understand and overcome.
A new study published in Cell Metabolism by Harvard Medical School researchers finds that leptin resistance may be a result of a traffic jam in the protein-making part of brain cells: a structure called endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where proteins are created, folded, and sent to other parts of the cell.
By Courtney Humphries
READ MORE HERE
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Super-sized: Reducing protein traffic jams inside the cells of obese mice helps them lose weight when they are also treated with leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone. Credit: Umut Ozcan
A new study published in Cell Metabolism by Harvard Medical School researchers finds that leptin resistance may be a result of a traffic jam in the protein-making part of brain cells: a structure called endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where proteins are created, folded, and sent to other parts of the cell.
By Courtney Humphries
READ MORE HERE
Really Long Link
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