Possible new obesity target is discovered

BOSTON, July 11 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have determined what regulates production of a certain adipose tissue in mice -- a discovery that might lead to new obesity treatments.

Investigators at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston said they identified a long-sought "master switch" that regulates the production in mice of brown fat -- a type of tissue that generates heat and counters obesity caused by overeating.

A team headed by Bruce Spiegelman suggests turning up the equivalent switch in people might be a new strategy for treating weight gain and obesity. The investigators said their next step is to increase the amount of brown fat in mice and then overfeed them to see if they are resistant to becoming obese.

"Brown fat is present in mice and in human infants, where it keeps them warm by dissipating food energy as heat, instead of storing it as white fat," said Spiegelman. "Human adults don't have much brown fat, but there is some, and from a therapeutic perspective the question is whether that pathway can be reactivated."

The study, which also involves researchers from the Harvard Medical School and research laboratories in Toulouse, France, appears in the July issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.