Current anti-obesity medications are only partly effective, due to substantial side effects, the temporary nature of the weight loss and the non-responsiveness of a considerable number of patients.
In a recently published series of studies led by TSRI Assistant Professor Anutosh Chakraborty of the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), scientists have identified a new therapeutic target -- a key protein that promotes fat accumulation in animal models by slowing the breakdown and expenditure of fat and encouraging weight gain.
[...] The expenditure of fat energy is preceded by a process called lipolysis that breaks down stored fat or triglycerides (specifically into free fatty acids and glycerol) to be used as energy in cells. The team discovered that deletion of IP6K1 affects interaction with another regulating protein and enhances the breakdown of fats.
To determine the therapeutic possibilities of the IP6K1 pathway, the team looked at the impact of an IP6K inhibitor known as TNP [N2-(m-Trifluorobenzyl), N6-(p-nitrobenzyl) purine] on diet-induced obesity in animal models. As it turns out, TNP significantly slows the initiation of diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance.
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(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Friday October 14 2016, @08:43AM
I'm going to a meeting where this is being presented - or at least some variant thereof if the schedule doesn't change.
It is thermodynamics - that is the only mechanism that is possible.
What we don't know, if are there mechanisms that can change the equilibrium *significantly* , without having to exercise *more*.
Remember, animal models are just that "models". The sheer fact of the *size* of humans makes the subtlety of some of these discoveries questionable.
If you are a rat with BMI 50, that might be a fat rat, but it's only perhaps 700g for a male?
A person with a BMI of 50 might be 250kg!!!!
Hence, always interesting to know of new mechanisms... Ultimately, however, it is thermodynamics which drives all processes living or otherwise.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 14 2016, @10:27AM
It is worse than that. The premise behind research like this is highly questionable. You are going to find a single protien target, that is so important that modifying its activity alone will lead to weight loss, yet there wont be any awful side effects? Biomed is taken over more and more by either hypsters or fools every year...