Disabling AdPLA Enzyme Lets You Eat Anything And Never Get Obese, If ...

Sunday, January 11, 2009 - 18:21 in Health & Medicine

If you're a mouse and you like fatty foods, we have good news for you.   Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have identified a new enzyme that helps control the breakdown of fat and the mice that have had this enzyme disabled remained lean despite eating a high-fat diet and losing a hormone that suppresses appetite. The enzyme in the spotlight, adipose-specific phospholipase A2 (AdPLA), is found in abundance only in fat tissue. AdPLA sets off a chain of events that increases levels of a signaling molecule called prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which suppresses the breakdown of fat. Mice that have no AdPLA have lower PGE2 levels and a higher rate of fat metabolism. read more

Read the whole article on Scientific Blogging

More from Scientific Blogging

Related

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox!