Obesity `fat switch' makes muscle turn to flab -- Study

Obesity `fat switch' makes muscle turn to flab -- Study
REUTERS

WASHINGTON, AUG 11: A protein that helps switch fat cells on and off may aid scientists eventually understand some of the causes of both obesity and the increasing flabbiness that comes with age, researchers have said.

The protein, which acts as a signal indicating to cells how they should develop, stops cells from becoming fat cells when it is on. When it is off, or produced at low levels, fat cells are born, a team at the University of Michigan reported. The protein is called WNT-10B, the researchers reported in the journal Science.

``WNT signalling functions as a fat switch,'' Sarah Ross, a graduate student who led the study, said in a statement.

``When it's on, fat-cell formation is repressed. When it's off, fat is initiated.''

Ormond Macdougald, an assistant professor of physiology who oversaw the work, stressed that the finding is not an answer for the 55 per cent of Americans who are overweight and the 18 per cent who are obese, or 30 per cent over ideal weight.

``It's not the cure for obesity next week,'' Macdougald said in a telephone interview.

``Obesity is a complicated problem and it's largely controlled by centres in the brain that control our appetite and also control whole body energy metabolism.''

But, he said, the study will help scientists understand just how obesity develops, and also adds to the understanding of the signals that tell cells what to do.