A visualization of immune responses in the white adipose tissue. The green is the cytokine interleukin-33, a molecule that helps prevent fat accumulation in mammals. Image courtesy of Dr. Tanel Mahlakoiv and Dr. David Artis.
A molecule that helps prevent fat accumulation in mammals is produced within fat tissues by stem-like cells that may be therapeutic targets for obesity and related disorders, according to a new study from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Obesity has become a global pandemic in recent decades, and presently affects more than 90 million Americans and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Obesity can be debilitating on its own, but it also increases the risk of other major diseases including cancers, heart disease, diabetes and immunological disorders.
One molecule of interest for anti-obesity strategies is the signaling protein interleukin-33 (IL-33), which, in mice, acts on immune cells within fat tissues to dampen inflammation and curb obesity during overfeeding. IL-33 is thought to have the same effect on humans, in whom lower blood levels of IL-33 have been linked to higher body weight. The principal source of beneficial IL-33 in fat tissues has been a mystery, but the investigators, in their study published May 3 in Science Immunology, identified that source as a population of immature, fat-resident cells called adipose stem and progenitor cells. To read more, click here.