The fat cells in our body are filled with droplets coated with molecules that act like hotel porters: these “porters” control the cells’ access to nutrients, as well as the release of energy-supplying molecules called lipids.

In healthy people, the outgoing and incoming traffic in fat cells is precisely balanced, providing energy, preventing the excessive spread of unwanted fat in the stomach. But in obese people, these cell gatekeepers have opened their gates too widely in certain key fat cells known as visceral fat cells, letting in too many carbohydrates without first burning lipids. This leads to an increase in the size of visceral fat cells in the abdomen.. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and chronic liver disease, as well as other abnormalities..

Researchers at Yale University reported in Nature Communications magazine that they found a molecular regulator of this pylorus with drops of fat and potential new treatments for obesity based on restoring the healthy balance found in thin people.

According to the research team, the regulator or commander of these sentinel fat droplets is an enzyme called O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). Mice lacking this enzyme are thin, exhibit a sharp decrease in fat cell size and tend to burn lipids first rather than consume more carbohydrate fuel. Conversely, over-expression of OGT in mice causes obesity, increasing carbohydrate intake without burning extra lipids.

“The commander of this doorman facilitates the flow of nutrients, but makes lipid secretion difficult,” says senior author Xiaoyun Yang, associate professor of comparative medicine and cell and molecular physiology at Yale University School of Medicine.

In previous studies, the Young team found that over-expression of OGT in fat cells has another side effect - it signals the brain to consume more calories (essentially asking the brain to order another pizza).

“This makes OGT a very attractive target for the pharmaceutical treatment of obesity,” Yang concluded..

med-heal. ru.