'Hedgehog' protein may treat obesity
DALLAS, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Researchers say a protein key to early development also plays a role in fat and bone formation in adult organisms.
The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, may lead to potential therapy for obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and lipodystrophy, a disorder characterized by a selective loss of body fat.
Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center say the protein, called hedgehog, activates a complex biochemical interaction called the "hedgehog signaling pathway."
"We found that if you stimulate the hedgehog pathway in fruit flies, fat formation is blocked and the flies are skinny. If we block the pathway, the flies become obese," said senior author Jonathan Graff.
Graff and his colleagues also found that the hedgehog signaling pathway is altered in the fat tissue of obese mice. That finding might have implications for human health.
"In mammals, it appears that hedgehog signaling regulates adult stem cells, diverting them from forming fat cells and redirecting them to become bone," Graff said. "Unfortunately, as humans age the opposite tends to happen. That is, the amount of bone cells that we have decreases, while the amount of fat cells we have increases.
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