Body Fat Can Be Burned with Medication Instead of Exercise

SangGongYeon-KAIST Research Team Successfully Identifies Protein Controlling Brown Fat Heat Generation

Domestic researchers have presented findings that could aid in obesity treatment. They identified a protein responsible for the combustion of brown adipose tissue, which is used to maintain body temperature among body fats. Utilizing this could promote energy expenditure and is expected to be applied in obesity treatment.

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology announced on the 26th that Dr. Won-Gon Kim and Dr. Kwang-Hee Bae from the Metabolic Control Center, together with Professor Jae-Myung Seo from KAIST, succeeded in identifying a new protein that regulates heat generation in brown fat.

Unlike white adipose tissue, which functions to store fat, brown adipose tissue burns fat to maintain body temperature and help endure cold. When exposed to cold, the human body generates heat through the contraction and relaxation of skeletal muscles, but this alone is insufficient to maintain body temperature. Therefore, skeletal muscles, visceral muscles, and brown adipose tissue additionally produce heat to sustain body temperature. Brown adipose tissue is abundant in animals that hibernate, and while it is known to be plentiful in human newborns and diminishes in adults, recent studies have found that some remains in adults.

In particular, brown adipose tissue has been shown to have an inverse relationship with age and metabolic activity, especially obesity, emerging as a new target for controlling obesity and metabolic diseases. The research team newly revealed that the LETMD1 (LETM1 Domain Containing 1) protein is a regulator that converts energy into heat. LETMD1 protein is known as a gene related to tumor suppression and is frequently found in various cancer cells.

Based on gene expression analysis and proteomic analysis results, the research team discovered that LETMD1 protein is selectively expressed during the development of brown adipose tissue. Furthermore, when mice lacking the LETMD1 protein were exposed to cold, the expression of UCP1 (Uncoupling Protein 1), a gene known for heat generation in brown adipose tissue, was suppressed, resulting in the inability to maintain body temperature and respiration. This was the first time it was identified that LETMD1 acts upstream of UCP1 in heat generation. Additionally, they found that LETMD1 protein is located in the mitochondrial matrix within brown fat. Previously, LETMD1 protein was known to be located on the mitochondrial outer membrane, but analysis using proximity labeling enzymes confirmed its location in the mitochondrial matrix.

Dr. Won-Gon Kim explained, “This research achievement is the first to reveal that LETMD1 protein acts upstream of UCP1, which is widely known as a heat generation regulator in the beneficial brown adipose tissue,” adding, “Controlling LETMD1 protein could be utilized in research for the treatment and prevention of metabolic diseases such as obesity.”

The research results were published in the online edition of 'Nature Communications' (IF 17.694), an international journal in the bio field.

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