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An increased concentration of the hormone leptin in fat cells is believed to be responsible for weight gain associated with antipsychotic drugs, according to re
An increased concentration of the hormone leptin in fat cells is believed to be responsible for weight gain associated with antipsychotic drugs, according to re
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IMAGE: At left is a healthy islet with many insulin-producing cells (green) and few glucagon-producing cells (red). At right, this situation is altered in a diabetic islet with a heavy preponderance. view more
Credit: UT Southwestern Medical Center
Blocking cell receptors for glucagon, the counter-hormone to insulin, cured mouse models of diabetes by converting glucagon-producing cells into insulin producers instead, a team led by UT Southwestern reports in a new study. The findings, published online in
PNAS, could offer a new way to treat both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in people.
More than 34 million Americans have diabetes, a disease characterized by a loss of beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells produce insulin, a hormone necessary for cells to absorb and use glucose, a type of sugar that circulates in the blood and serves as cellular fuel.
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IMAGE: An image showing a blood vessel in fat tissue, surrounded by fat progenitor cells (in green). view more
Credit: UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS - Feb. 3, 2021 - Gaining more fat cells is probably not what most people want, although that might be exactly what they need to fight off diabetes and other diseases. How and where the body can add fat cells has remained a mystery - but two new studies from UT Southwestern provide answers on the way this process works.
The studies, both published online today in
Cell Stem Cell, describe two different processes that affect the generation of new fat cells. One reports how fat cell creation is impacted by the level of activity in tiny organelles inside cells called mitochondria. The other outlines a process that prevents new fat cells from developing in one fat storage area in mice - the area that correlates with the healthy subcutaneous fat just under the skin in humans. (Both studies were done in mice.)