ALK7受体 z-bo 2020-09-15 406

　　ALK7 receptors are mainly found in fat cells and tissues involved in regulating metabolism. Interestingly, ALK7 mutant mice accumulate less fat than mice carrying a functional version of the protein. Until now, people still don't know why this happens.

　　Researchers have constructed mice that lack ALK7 in fat cells, but other cells can produce ALK7 normally. The researchers found that adipocytes lacking ALK7 receptors are more sensitive to epinephrine and norepinephrine signals. This finding explains why these mice accumulate less fat, even if these mice are fed a high-fat diet. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are key factors in metabolism. These hormones trigger energy bursts, increase heart rate and increase blood pressure, which are necessary responses to "fight or flight" hormones.

　　These hormones usually stimulate the breakdown of fat, but when nutrients are abundant, fat cells will become resistant to this signal and store fat. This mechanism is transformed to facilitate energy storage when the food supply is abundant, thereby increasing the survival rate when hungry. In industrialized countries, food is often continuously supplied, and this resistance may lead to an unhealthy increase in body fat, which in turn leads to obesity.

　　Then, the researchers studied whether blocking ALK7 can prevent obesity. At present, there is no known ALK7 inhibitor, but the researchers used mice to generate a special mutant of ALK7, making it sensitive to inhibition by chemical substances, thus solving the above problems. It is possible that the author can block the receptors of other normal adult animals at any time.

　　"Using this method, we can make mice on a high-fat diet thinner through simple regulation of chemicals. This shows that acute inhibition of the ALK7 receptor can prevent obesity in adult animals," the Department of Neuroscience and the first of this study One author Tingqing Guo said.

　　Researchers also discovered that the ALK7 receptor works in human fat cells similarly to mice.

　　"In general, these results suggest that ALK7 receptor blockers may represent a strategy to prevent obesity in humans," said Carlos Ibanez, the Department of Neuroscience and lead author of the study.