Is it possible to stop obesity by targeting a single gene?

Obesity is an epidemic that may decrease life expectancy by 6-20 years and is linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Multi-organ systems participate in the regulation of whole-body digestion, and a disruption of this homeostatic balance underlies obesity, metabolic disease, and their associated comorbidities.

Researchers have long explored non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) as a way to burn excess calories and treat obesity by converting them to heat instead of storing them as fat. Generally, the body operates a number of feedback mechanisms that suppress unnecessary caloric consumption. Evolutionarily speaking, these forms have helped conserve energy in times of hardship. Mammals have developed mechanisms for both storing calories and using them for functions such as thermogenesis, in response to pressures of limited nourishment resources and environmental exposure.

Despite gorging on high-fat foods for prolonged periods, mice whose RCAN1 gene had been removed failed to gain weight, even when the gene was removed. In addition, a comparative approach that prevents this quality will be effective in combating corpulence and genuine diseases such as diabetes. Researchers performed a large genetic screen in rodents to identify novel genetic candidates that cause obesity, potentially paving the way for new sedate therapies. For a variety of reasons, many people struggle to lose weight or to control their weight. It may be possible to create a pill that targets RCAN1 and results in weight loss as a result of the discoveries made in this study.

Despite the fact that obesity is a major international health concern, resulting in an increased risk of maladies like type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, there is no road to delivering effective and useful medications. The human body contains two kinds of fat - brown fat burns energy, and white fat stores it. Research shows that blocking RCAN1 makes a difference in converting white fat into brown fat, providing a potential method for treating obesity. A few drugs have already been developed that target the protein this quality makes, and we are currently testing them to see if they suppress RCAN1, and whether they may speak to potential new anti-obesity drugs. According to our findings, the drugs we are developing to target RCAN1 would burn more calories when people are resting.

It implies that the body would store less fat without requiring individuals to reduce their food intake or increase their physical activity. Mammals that hibernate and newborns are especially replete with brown fat tissue. Additionally, it is present and metabolically active in adults, but its predominance diminishes with age. It regulates body temperature. In addition to the heat produced by shivering muscle, brown fat tissue also produces heat through non-shivering thermogenesis. Researchers say these findings open up the possibility of a simple treatment, but further study is needed to determine whether the treatment can be applied to people.