eLife: Key mutations in the brain affect obesity.

Oct 1, 2020 /----- Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have found that obesity is a brain-derived disease.
specifically, some people are at higher risk of obesity because they have genetic mutations that affect how the brain processes sensory information and regulates eating and behavior.
past decade, scientists have identified hundreds of different genetic variants that increase a person's risk of obesity.
, however, much remains to be done to figure out how these mutations translate into obesity.
, scientists at the University of Copenhagen have identified groups of human cells that play a role in disease development, all in the brain.
"Our results provide evidence that biological processes outside the traditional organs studied in the obesity study, such as fat cells, play a key role," said Associate Professor Tune H Pers of the University of Copenhagen and author of the paper, www.pixabay.com.
"We identified the types of cells in the brain that regulate the processing of memory, behavior and sensory information associated with disease development.
further investigation of these areas of the brain may tell us why some of us are more likely to be obese than others.
" discovery was achieved through the development of a computing tool that combines two different data sets.
first group of genome-wide association studies from about 450,000 people.
comparing people's health and physical attributes, such as weight, with their unique genome suggests that obese people are more likely to have a range of common genetic variants.
second group was single-cell RNA sequencing data from more than 700 different types of mouse cell populations.
different parts of the genome expressed by different cells, so the dataset contains unique genetic fingerprints for each cell population.
the two data sets, the researchers found that the genetic variation closely related to obesity was dominated by a population of 26 neuron cells.
we already know that the brain plays an important role in obesity by regulating how the body maintains its energy needs.
it does this by processing signals from the body about energy storage and food intake, as well as external signals such as the appearance and smell of food.
new findings suggest that a person's risk of obesity is driven by a group of cells that deal with sensory stimuli and direct effects related to eating and behavior.
they also identified specific types of brain cells that support learning and memory in obesity.
Tational step is to explore how partial defects in the brain that have traditionally been known to regulate the integration of memory and sensory signals make us more likely to become obese," said Tune H Pers, a research professor at The Associated State.
growing evidence that obesity is much more complex than previously accepted and cannot simply be attributed to a simple problem of lack of willpower.
Bioon.com Source: Genetic risk of developing obesity is driven by variants that affect the brain Original source: Pascal N Timshel et al mapping, Genetic of etiologic brain cell for obesity, eLife (2020). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.55851.