From: Healthcare and medicine

Researchers at UC Berkeley have discovered a new enzyme, AdPLA, within fat cells that is a key regulator of fat metabolism and body weight. This makes it a promising target for treating obesity. Mice that had the AdPLA enzyme disabled remained lean despite eating a high-fat diet. The lack of AdPLA did not change their number of fat cells, but simply kept the cells from accumulating excess fat. The researchers also found that levels of AdPLA were higher in obese mice and that mice deficient in AdPLA expended more energy than normal mice and burned more fat directly within fat cells. They did find one potential problem, namely that inhibiting the expression of AdPLA led to higher insulin resistance. [H][G]

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