Posted on 06/11/2008 12:48:37 AM PDT by neverdem
jolson@pioneerpress.com
Research applies to weight gain that comes with age
A gene common to mice and men may be partly responsible for the rising rate of obesity that comes with age.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota had been studying the so-called Girk4 gene in mice for its role in heart defects, but then noticed that removing the gene caused mice to gain weight over time.
"This was not an outcome we expected, but now we have an animal model that may provide new insight into human obesity," said Kevin Wickman, an associate professor of pharmacology at the U.
Drug researchers can use this information to create a treatment that would target this particular gene, which appears most active in the human brain. Poor eating and exercise habits largely cause obesity, but genes can influence whether people are more affected by those bad habits, said Catherine Kotz, a scientist based at the VA Medical Center at Fort Snelling.
Wickman sought Kotz's help after he first noticed the weight gain in the genetically altered mice. Their research results — supported by state and federal grants — were published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Definitely, your environment and how you live influences your level of obesity," Kotz said, "but some people are more susceptible to it than others. Genes usually (determine) that susceptibility."
Kotz said this particular gene appears to affect the appetite. Mice ate more after the gene was removed and also were less active, according to the study.
It was significant that the mice didn't gain freakish amounts of weight right away, Kotz said. Rather, they gained weight as they aged — mimicking the weight gain that often happens in adults as they age from 20 to 50. Kotz said this is one of many genes that likely play a role in obesity. A drug affecting this gene could end up helping some patients but not others.
An estimated 63 percent of Minnesotans are obese or overweight, putting themselves at greater risk for diabetes, heart disease, depression and some forms of cancer.
Jeremy Olson can be reached at 651-228-5583.
This is really interesting. IMHO, having the wrong single nucleotide polymorphism, (SNP), epigenetic silencing or copy number variation, (CNV), of GIRK4 could yield significant insights into obesity.
When I first read this I thought they found a obscenity gene. Maybe they will find a racist gene next. Some people need an excuse to be fat, foul-mouthed, racists.
So much for Northerners being more hardy due to living through cold harsh winters. These people on average appear to be cream puffs.
Some people may be predisposed to obesity genetically but, other than one’s birth weight, there isn’t a calorie’s worth of fat on one’s body that didn’t there through one’s mouth.
If you want to maintain the ignorance foisted by the popular press, be my guest. It was called GIRK4 for good reasons, the functional tests that characterized its presence before it was "knocked out."
From the abstract that I linked: "G protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK/Kir3) channels mediate the inhibitory effects of many neurotransmitters on excitable cells. Four Girk genes have been identified (Girk1–4)."
"K" is the chemical symbol for potassium, from Latin, kalium. Forgive me for repeating myself. We don't know what we don't know, and we hardly have a clue. So I humbly suggest KISS, keep it simple stupid. No offense is intended. Last that I heard there are over 21,000 gene coded proteins that they know about, not to mention what they used to call "junk" DNA, just because they don't understand its function. This stuff is way more complicated than we realize. Calling it the "“slimness gene” won't help. I'm pretty sure many other genes are involved, including those coding for leptin, adiponectin and osteocalcin, off the top of my head.
CROWD:
Oooh.
BEDEVERE:
Exactly. So, logically...
VILLAGER #1:
Minnesotans should, ... eat more mice with an intact Girk-4 gene?
Last one for medicine is so simple ping.
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