StemCell Therapy

A hot topic in biomedical sciences is converting white bad fat into brown good fat.

The latter type of fat is viewed more positively because it seems to be associated with a relatively metabolically more active, leaner state.

Could we somehow convert white fat to brown fat and in so doing have a beneficial effect on health?

Researchers from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute just came out with some new research on potential stem cell-related approaches to the much-vaunted conversion of white-to-brown fat.

Thepaperwas posted yesterday in the excellent journalNature Cell Biology from a team led by Dr. Chad Cowan and is entitled:White-to-brown metabolic conversion of human adipocytes by JAK inhibition.

The authors conducted an elegant screen (see Figure 1a above) to look for molecules that could shift the fate of fat tissue produced from stem cells toward brown fat. They found so-called JAK kinase inhibitors could do the trick in human cultured cells.

This is heady stuff.

The Harvard Gazette talks about it ina piece entitled A Pill to Shed Fat?:

Cowans group has found two small molecules that convert fat stem cells, which normally would produce white fat, into brown-like fat cells. These brown-like fat cells burn excess energy and thereby reduce the size and numbers of white fat cells.

I find this paper very exciting, but I wonder if it is a bittoo exciting if you know what I mean. For example, take a look at this statement that is bouncing around in the mainstream media about this fat finding:

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Harvard Predicts Fat-Burning Stem Cell Pill To Replace ...

This entry was posted on May 26, 2015 at 7:46 am and is filed under Fat Stem Cells. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |