Researchers have discovered a process that can enhance the fat-burning properties of brown fat. That, along with a potential increase in brown fat, should make weight loss easier.
Burn brown fat baby burn
May sound like a Sir Mix A Lot song with a matching cheesy video, but if you’re a bit ‘with it,’ then you know what I’m talking about. I’ve already written many articles about brown and beige fat; The ‘brown gold’ that has the interest of every researcher and pharmaceutical company looking to develop a safe and effective weight loss pill. Chinese researchers have discovered a mechanism of brown fat that brings such a pill a step closer. Brown fat differs from white fat because it has a different function. White fat is mainly for energy storage. Brown fat contains many mitochondria, the ‘powerhouses of the cell.’ This not only gives it a brown color but also a different function: regulating body temperature by burning fat (‘thermogenesis’). Beige fat can arise within white fat under certain conditions. Think primarily of prolonged exposure to a low temperature. White fat cells can then turn into beige fat and behave like brown fat. In short: Brown and beige fat burn fat, and white fat can turn into beige fat. Researchers have been trying in recent years to discover how to turn more white fat into beige fat and how to make beige and brown fat work harder.Noradrenaline and brown fat
Thermogenesis by brown and beige fat is influenced by an important hormone; noradrenaline (or ‘norepinephrine’). This endogenous hormone exerts its influence on the surface of the cell. It is then absorbed by the cell to be broken down to prevent overstimulation. If you could slow down the absorption of noradrenaline by the cell, then it could exert its influence on the surface of that cell for longer. This would mean that the body’s own noradrenaline could exert its fat-increasing effect on beige and brown fat cells for longer. Previous research had already found a way in which noradrenaline is absorbed by the fat cell. But that method led to relatively low uptake. This suggested that there must be another mechanism that plays a larger role in this uptake. The Chinese think they have found this mechanism.‘Natural fat burn genes’
In their research, they discovered that beige fat cells in mice have high levels of a protein called organic cation transporter 3 (Oct3). This protein can import noradrenaline into the cell. The researchers then demonstrated that lowering the amount of Oct3 led to reduced breakdown of noradrenaline. This subsequently led to a higher rate of fat burning in beige fat and a higher body temperature. Lowering the Oct3 protein not only leads to higher burning by existing beige fat cells; it can also increase the amount of beige fat cells. They found this out by exposing mice to a lower temperature for a longer period. The mice with an Oct3 deficiency produced beige fat more quickly and also showed other signs of increased thermogenesis. Then the researchers delved into databases for human genes and the associations found therein. In this case, they looked at variations in the Oct3 gene. This gene contains the instructions to make the Oct3 protein. However, the variations of this gene that the researchers looked at result in the production of a type of Oct3 protein that has reduced transport function. It is therefore less able to import noradrenaline into the cell. The data showed a correlation between people carrying these versions of the gene and having an increased metabolism.Still just good intentions for now
The joint outcome of their findings is that Oct3 plays an important role in regulating the production of brown fat and its effect in both mice and humans. They therefore think that agents that inhibit Oct3 could offer new outcomes in the search for medication for weight loss.Our finding that a reduction in OCT3 activity can lead to more beige fat and increased thermogenesis indicating the importance of this transporter in catecholamine recycling in adipose tissues. Developing specific OCT3 inhibitors would open up new therapeutic possibilities for metabolic diseases.Earlier, researchers had already found a protein that inhibits the conversion of white fat to beige fat. Brown and beige fat are being attacked from all sides by researchers hoping to unravel their secrets. Perhaps there will come a time when ‘losing weight’ no longer needs to be on so many lists of good intentions.
References
- Wenxin Song, Qi Luo, Yuping Zhang, Linkang Zhou, Ye Liu, Zhilong Ma, Jianan Guo, Yuedong Huang, Lili Cheng, Ziyi Meng, Zicheng Li, Bin Zhang, Siqi Li, Sook Wah Yee, Hao Fan, Peng Li, Kathleen M. Giacomini, Ligong Chen. Organic cation transporter 3 (Oct3) is a distinct catecholamines clearance route in adipocytes mediating the beiging of white adipose tissue. PLOS Biology, 2019; 17 (1): e2006571 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006571
