Scientists from the CIBER area of the Institute of Biomedicine and Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (Ciberobn) of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) have succeeded in developing a gene therapy strategy that has Reduce obesity, cholesterol and diabetes in laboratory rats.
The research, which is directed by Dr. Laura Herrero and published by the journal “Metabolic Engineering”, has developed an ex vivo therapy, that is, they have created a cell transformation From tissue biopsies of mice into which transformed cells have been implanted.
“Because it happens outside the patient’s body, in this case in mice, this type of therapy is very easy to do and Allows greater control of infected cellsHerrero explained.
“We implanted subcutaneously in obese mice Stem cells are derived from adipose tissue and differentiated into adipocytes so that they express a permanently active form of the key enzyme in lipid oxidation, CPT1AM. This made it possible to reduce weight, reduce hepatic steatosis and cholesterol and glucose levels,” the researcher elaborated.
Thus, they concluded that adipocytes (a cell type that store lipids as an energy reserve) express mitochondrial enzyme CPT1AM Reduces obesity and glucose intolerance in rats.
According to Herrero, the adipose tissue Plays an important role in regulating energy balance, and mesenchymal stem cells, self-renewing cells derived from adipose tissue, have gained great interest in cell therapy, the introduction of new cells into a tissue to treat a disease. process to do.
Until now, cell therapies have generally been applied in hereditary diseasewith or without the help of gene therapy, and in degenerative diseasesBut now they have used this cell therapy to reduce obesity in mice.
“Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) is the enzyme that regulates mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids. Our goal was to generate adipocytes that are capable of expressing a constitutively active form of CPT1A (CPT1AM). Improvement of the obese metabolic phenotype of mice after implantation”, the researcher explained.
“Mice implanted with this enzyme showed improved glucose tolerance as well as reduced body weight, hepatic steatosis and serum levels of insulin and cholesterol”, summarizes Herrero, who believes the results obtained support future clinical use of this ex vivo gene therapy approach to reduce the rate of obesity and cholesterol.
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