The researchers talked about the prospects of microbubbles in the treatment of obesity

Scientists have identified a micro protein that regulates the accumulation of lipids in fat cells, which may open the way to new treatments for obesity. This was reported on August 10 by Science Daily magazine.

As specified, the team of scientists used CRISPR technology to analyze several thousand genes of fat cells to find coding micro proteins that affect their growth and fat accumulation. As a result, one micro protein, Adipocyte—smORF-1183, was confirmed to regulate the formation of fat droplets in cells.

"CRISPR screening is extremely effective in finding important factors of obesity and metabolism that can become therapeutic targets. The more we conduct such research, the more we find microbial proteins associated with diseases and the more potential targets we have for future developments," said Alan Saghatelyan, Professor and head of the Dr. Frederick Paulsen Department at Salk University.

The authors of the work emphasize that existing methods of treating obesity, including bariatric surgery and GLP–1-based drugs, have limitations, including side effects, difficulties with accessibility and weight maintenance. In addition, the new approach allows "to identify interesting functional genes that directly affect the accumulation of lipids and the development of fat cells."

In the course of the work, the researchers compiled a list of 38 potential micro-proteins associated with the formation of fat droplets, and then conducted their functional verification. Only one of them, Adipocyte-smORF–1183, has confirmed its role in the regulation of lipid accumulation. Scientists believe that expanding the database of such molecules will create the basis for the development of new and more effective therapies for obesity and metabolic disorders.

On May 21, Elena Fedorova, an endocrinologist at the Academician Roitberg Clinic, warned that the problem of obesity has reached the scale of a national threat: two thirds of the adult population of Russia are overweight.

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