Transgenic mice with enhanced function of transcription factor C/EBPβ (b) store excess fat in hyperplastic adipose tiss.
Obesity is a chronic nutritional and metabolic disease characterized by excess body fat accumulation and accumulation in tissu.
The number of overweight and obese people in industrialized countries has increased dramatically in recent yea.
In a recent study published in the journal eLife, the European Institute for the Biology of Aging (ERIBA) in Groningen, The Netherlands and the Leibniz Institute for Aging in Jena, Germany - Fritz Lippmann Research Transgenic mice with enhanced function of the transcription factor C/EBPβ have now shown that they can store excess fat in this way, even under stressful conditions such as a markedly high-fat diet, according to researchers at the Institute (FLI) Stay healt.
Where fat is stored affects health
Fat storage in the visceral fat depot occurs primarily through an increase in the size of individual adipocytes (hypertrophic fat storag.
Previous research has shown that two things in particular contribute to this healthy obesity phenotype: First, fat that is not stored in the abdomen but as subcutaneous fat in the arms, thighs and back is more beneficial to heal.
Enhancement of transcription factor C/EBPβ function controls fat storage
When mice were fed a high-fat diet in the laboratory, within a short period of time they gained weight, became obese, and developed metabolic problems similar to those in obese humans, including inflammation of adipose tissue, fat accumulation in the liver and muscles, e.
"In our current study, we were able to show, on the one hand, that transgenic mice with enhanced function of the transcription factor C/EBPβ store excess fat mainly in hyperplastic adipose tissue, with more and smaller adipocytes," ERIBA's .
In two previously published studies, researchers from Jena and Groningen have demonstrated that the same C/ebpβ-hyperfunctional mice have a general improvement in metabolism when fed a normal diet, which is also consistent with their wild-type counterpar.
Will we soon be able to control excess fat storage?
"Our study provides impressive evidence that C/EBPβ hyperfunction tailors the physiologically healthier metabolism of mice, even under unhealthy nutritional conditions, such as the stress of a high-fat diet," explains Pr.
Preliminary studies have shown that this C/EBPβ pharmacological targeting strategy is feasible in princip.