Scientists Discovers Obesity gene.

Obese people who claim they have a
“slow metabolism” may have a point
after scientists discover a gene that
for the first time links being
overweight with reduced metabolic
activity.
Researchers from Cambridge
University found that mutations in a
gene known as KSR2 reduce the
ability of cells to metabolise glucose
and fatty acids, which provide
energy.
These gene mutations are also more
common in people with severe
obesity than in the general, non-
obese population, they found.
It has long been suggested that
some people may be predisposed to
obesity because of a “slow
metabolism” but this is the first time
that scientists have been able to
identify a definite genetic basis for
such an idea.
“It was something that most of us
didn’t quite believe could happen
because there wasn’t much evidence
for it until now,” said Professor
Sadaf Farooqi of the University of
Cambridge. “Up until now, the genes
we have identified that
control body weight have largely
affected appetite.
This gene also increases appetite but
it is also causes a slow metabolic
rate,” Professor Farooqi said.
“KSR2 is different in that it also plays
a role in regulating how energy is
used in the body. In the future,
modulation of KSR2 may represent a
useful therapeutic strategy for
obesity and type-2 diabetes,” she
said.
Working with Ines Barroso of the
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near
Cambridge, Professor Farooqi
sequenced the DNA from over 2,000
patients with severe, early onset
obesity, and found that about 2 per
cent of them had multiple mutations
in the KSR2 gene – more than twice
the rate found in non-obese people.
The study, published in the journal
Cell, follows earlier work on mice
that established the link between the
gene and obesity. Mice that lacked
the gene became severely
overweight.
The KSR2 gene is responsible for
some of the “scaffolding” proteins of
the cell which play a crucial role in
ensuring that signals from hormones
such as
insulin are correctly processed in the
body to regulate how cells grow,
divide and use energy.
The scientists found that patients
with mutations in the KSR2 gene
reported that they had an increased
drive to eat when they were children
but also a
reduced metabolic rate, which meant
they were unable to burn off all they
energy they consumed.
Low metabolic rate is often linked
with an underactive thyroid gland,
but in these people their thyroid
levels were within normal range,
which meant that their metabolic
deficit was caused by
something else, such as defected
KSR2 genes.
“This work adds to a growing body
of evidence that genes play a major
role in influencing a person’s weight
and may be useful for developing
new ways to treat people who are
heavy and develop
diabetes,” Professor Farooqi said.
A study published earlier this year
by the same scientists found that
children with the most severe kinds
of obesity are more likely than other
children to have one or more of four
genetic variations in their DNA which
could influence appetite and food
metabolism.
Blogger Source »»»
www.uselucentral.blogspot.no/2013/10/it-
is-slow-metabolism-after-all.html?m=1
Official Source »»»
www.independent.co.uk/news/science/it-
is-a-slow-metabolism-after-all-scientists-
discover-obesity-gene-8902235.html

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