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Scientists identify protein that can absorb lipid |
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13:18, July 06, 2007 |
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that a protein absorbs lipids in the upper part of the intestine, and they believe its key role in this process may provide a novel approach for obesity treatmentin the future.
The protein, CD36, facilitates the uptake of fatty acids. It islocated on the surface of cells and distributed in many tissues, including fat cells, the digestive tract, heart tissue and skeletal muscle tissue, according to a study which will be published in the July 6 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The intestine makes large amounts of CD36, and it is important to the absorption of fatty acids. Normally, CD36 absorbs fatty acids in the upper, or proximal part of the intestine, and when itis absent, lower, more distal sections of the intestine compensateand absorb the fat.
However, when no CD36 was present in the genetically altered mice, the lipids were absorbed more slowly since they had to travel to lower, more distal parts of the intestine. And they alsowere packaged differently. Rather than being bundled into chylomicrons, the lipids were released as parts of smaller particles that are not as easily absorbed by other tissues as the chylomicrons.
Lead author Nada Abumrad and her colleagues believe that targeting the upper part of the intestine and interfering with normal CD36 function might be a useful tool in weight loss. The team found that animals that could not make CD36 absorbed fat lessefficiently, and as a result they tended to eat less of it.
"And the most exciting part for us right now is the fact that these things may apply to humans," Abumrad says. "Humans with mutations in the gene that makes CD36 don't seem to process fat normally either."
Although scientists in Abumrad's lab think it may be possible eventually to help people lose weight by interfering with the CD36protein, they first want to learn more from the mouse.
Currently, they work with mice that cannot make CD36 anywhere in their bodies. But because the protein also operates in heart tissue and skeletal muscle, disabling CD36 everywhere can have detrimental effects. So the team is working to develop a new kind of mutant mouse, one that can make CD36 everywhere except in the intestine.
Source: Xinhua
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