Lifestyle

New Protein Structure Discovery Could Lead To Obesity Treatments

The discovery of the chemical structure of a protein that permits “good fat” to burn calories is a significant step towards developing therapies for diabetes and obesity.

Brown fat tissue, also known as “good fat,” can burn calories as heat thanks to a protein called “Uncoupling protein 1” (UCP1), in contrast to traditional white fat, which stores calories.

Important molecular information is provided by an international team, which includes scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK, to aid in the development of therapeutics that artificially activate UCP1 to burn off extra calories from fat and sugar.

They claimed that the research, which was published in the journal Science Advances, may one day help fight obesity and diseases like diabetes.

Brown fat is healthy fat because it metabolises blood sugar and fat molecules to produce heat and support body temperature regulation. However, the majority of our fat is white fat, which stores energy and contributes to obesity when there is an excess of it.

According to Paul Crichton of the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, “UCP1 is the key protein that enables the specialised brown fat to burn off calories as heat.”

”But even with more brown fat—UCP1 must still be ‘switched on’ to gain full benefit. And research has been hampered by a lack of details on the molecular make up of UCP1. Despite more than 40 years of research, we did not know what UCP1 looks like to understand how it works—until now,” Crichton said.

The team was able to examine UCP1 in atomic detail using the Krios G3i, a cryogenic electron microscope at the University of Pennsylvania’s Singh Center for Nanotechnology.

According to Vera Moiseenkova-Bell, an associate professor at the Beckman Center for Cryo-Electron Microscopy in the US, “This is an exciting development that follows more than four decades of research into what UCP1 looks like and how it functions.”

”Our work shows how a regulator binds to prevent UCP1 activity, but more importantly the structure will allow scientists to rationalise how activating molecules bind to switch the protein on, leading to the burning of fat,” said lead researcher Edmund Kunji, from the University of Cambridge.

”The activated tissue can also remove glucose from the blood, which can help control diabetes,” he added.

Also read: Heart Attack Linked With Cognitive Decline Over Time

Shruti Chaturvedi

Recent Posts

Kisan Credit Card Scheme A Lifeline For Indian Farmers: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday described the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme as a…

2 hours ago

Trump Administration Shuts Down Controversial ‘Quiet Skies’ Surveillance Program

The Trump administration has officially shut down the ‘Quiet Skies’ passenger surveillance program, a covert…

2 hours ago

PM Modi Likely To Visit Bengal For Twin Programmes On June 20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit West Bengal later this month for two…

2 hours ago

Elon Musk Hints At Launching ‘The America Party’ As Political Rift With Trump Widens

Elon Musk has sparked speculation about founding a new political outfit named 'The America Party'…

3 hours ago

Trump Set to Sell His Tesla Car As Clash With Elon Musk Escalates

US President Trump is reportedly planning to sell his Tesla car, purchased in March to…

3 hours ago

Musk-Trump Fallout Threatens NASA And Pentagon Operations: Report

A recent fued between Elon Musk and former US President Donald Trump has raised serious…

3 hours ago