fat cells

Fat cells may increase type 2 diabetes risk in women

harminka — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:05:21 -0500

Middle-aged women with large abdominal fat cells have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life compared to women with smaller fat cells. Waist circumference divided by body height can also be used to determine which women are at risk. This is shown in a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Penn scientists map molecular regulation of fat-cell genetics

harminka — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:49:57 -0600

A research team led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has used state-of-the-art genetic technology to map thousands of positions where a molecular “master regulator” of fat-cell biology is nestled in DNA to control genes in these cells. The findings appear online this week in Genes & Development.

Researchers at UH explore use of fat cells as heart attack therapy

harminka — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:58:24 -0500

For those of us trained to read nutrition labels, conventional wisdom tells us that fat isn’t good for the heart. But a team of University of Houston researchers has set out to use fat cells to beef up heart muscles damaged by heart attack – and it's using an out-of-this-world device to do it.

Newly identified cells make fat

harminka — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:30:33 -0500

To understand where fat comes from, you have to start with a skinny mouse. By using such a creature, and observing the growth of fat after injections of different kinds of immature cells, scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University have discovered an important fat precursor cell that may in time explain how changes in the numbers of fat cells might increase and lead to obesity.

Systems properties of insulin signaling revealed

harminka — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:26:55 -0500

A team of Swedish researchers has characterized novel systems properties of insulin signaling in human fat cells. Their mathematical modeling, described in an article published June 20th in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, provides further insight into energy level maintenance (via the hormone insulin) within our bodies.

Gladstone scientists reveal genetics of fat storage in cells

harminka — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:47:42 -0500

New research by the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has revealed the genetic determinants of fat storage in cells, which may lead to a new understanding of and potential treatments for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Number of fat cells remains constant in all body types

harminka — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:26:20 -0500

The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and ’60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human’s body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.

Obesity chokes up the cellular power plant

harminka — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:47:33 -0500

The machinery responsible for energy production in fat cells is working poorly as a result of obesity. Finnish research done at the University of Helsinki and the National Public Health Institute shows that this may aggravate and work to maintain the obese state in humans.

Fat cells send message that aids insulin secretion

harminka — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:08:31 -0600

The body's fat cells help the pancreas do its job of secreting insulin, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This previously unrecognized process ultimately could lead to new methods to improve glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic or insulin-resistant people.

Intriguing structures on surface of fat cells

harminka — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:58:42 -0500

The surface of fat cells contains many small pockets called caveolae (because they look like caves in an electron microscope). Although their role is not clear, Paul F. Pilch and colleagues review current knowledge about caveolae and conclude that one of their major functions is to regulate the movement and production of fats in fat cells.

Alternate-day fasting, How good is it for your health?

harminka — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:53:18 -0500

Researchers report that fasting or eating half as much as usual every other day may shrink your fat cells and boost mechanisms that break down fats.

Understanding how obese fat cells work

harminka — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:02:23 -0500

In obese individuals, fat cells are bloated and inflamed because they receive too many nutrients, including lipids. In these cells, various components cannot work properly anymore and, instead, they activate new proteins to cope with the situation.