New Protein May Play a Role in Obesity
There is more to losing weight than diet and exercise, according to investigators the Research Institute at the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Health Centre (MUHC). Their study is the first to identify a new receptor protein present on fat cells that may play a role in fat metabolism. The findings, published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, have implications for the many individuals suffering from obesity.
"We have identified a receptor protein on fat cells that when stimulated may increase the amount of lipid stored in fat reservoirs," says MUHC researcher Dr. Katherine Cianflone. "This protein, C5L2, is made by fat tissue, is on the surface of fat cells and binds a specific hormone to increase fat production."
Cianflone, an Associate Professor at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, with colleagues from Ï㽶ÊÓƵ and the United Kingdom characterized the binding activities of C5L2. They showed that this protein is a cell surface receptor that binds acylation stimulating protein (ASP), a protein known to affect fat production.
"People who are obese have high levels of ASP," says Cianflone. "One potential key to battling this condition is to disrupt the ASP-C5L2 complex. In the future, we may be able to slow down this fat-producing process by identifying molecules that will block C5L2 activity."
In North America obesity is at epidemic levels in all age groups. A large proportion of Canadians is overweight or obese, and is at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. "The most powerful method to reduce these risks is to reduce their weight," says Cianflone.
"By providing funding for researchers like Dr. Cianflone and her colleagues, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is helping us better understand one of many complex pathways involved in regulating body weight," says Dr. Diane Finegood, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes which has identified obesity research as its strategic funding priority. "We need to know much more about human biology, as well as human behaviour, if we are to come to grips with the obesity epidemic and its many adverse consequences affecting the health of Canadians."
"The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Québec (HSFQ) recognizes the danger that obesity represents for cardiovascular diseases. It is thus essential for us to financially support research which will make it possible to fight this plague and thus improve the quality of life of the population ", mentioned the general manager of the HSFQ, Mr. Jean Noël.
About the Research Institute of the MUHC
The Research Institute the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Health Centre (MUHC) located in Montreal, Quebec, is Canada's largest concentration of biomedical and health-care researchers. The institute has over 500 researchers, nearly 650 graduate and post-doctoral students and 306 laboratories devoted to research. The mission of the institute is to facilitate investigator-initiated and discovery-driven research that creates new knowledge. This research is inextricably linked to clinical programs, which provide a bench-to-bedside-to-community continuum. The MUHC research institute is renowned as a world class research institution, that operates at the forefront of new knowledge, innovation, trends, and technologies.
About the CIHR
The CIHR is Canada's premier agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened health care system. CIHR's Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes supports research to enhance health in relation to diet, digestion, excretion and metabolism; and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions and problems associated with hormone, digestive system, kidney and liver function.
About the Heart and Stroke Foundation
Since its inception, the HSFQ has disbursed more than $60.5 million in support of research into heart disease, some has led to remarkable achievements that have had positive repercussions the world over. Thanks to the constant support of donors and volunteers, we can continue to look to the future with confidence. Teams of experienced researchers are receiving the financial aid enabling them to forge ahead on the road to discovery. Their determination, their enthusiasm and their skills represent a genuine guarantee of progress to come.