Scientists have found potential targets for struggle with metabolic syndrome
Scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University have analyzed mechanisms of development of metabolic syndrome – metabolic disorder, that leads to obesity, increase in arterial pressure, high sugar level and cholesterol in blood. It has turned out that potential targets for treatment of this disease can become proteins that answer for cooperation of mitochondria and lipid droplets in cells, because disruption of their work leads to insulin resistance and abundant accumulation of fats in the organism. Results of the research are published in the journal Current Medical Chemistry.
About one milliard people in the world suffer from the metabolic syndrome – metabolic disorder that leads to obesity, increase in arterial pressure, insulin resistance, and thus increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes. This disease appears due to disruption of energetic balance in body cells. Normally lipid droplets in cells accumulate fats – energetically important molecules – and mitochondria produce energy while splitting them. The disruption of this cooperation, for example, when mitochondria are damaged, starts a cascade of pathologic reactions that leads to disease. However, mechanisms of such disruptions are not sufficiently clear, and that prevents scientists from elaboration of such effective drugs for treatment of metabolic syndrome, that act on the cause of the disease.
Scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad) together with colleague from I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Moscow) have analyzed information about molecular causes of this disruption. In particular, authors have studied, which role in the development of metabolic syndrome play proteins, that form contacts between mitochondria's membrane and surface of lipid droplets. It has turned out that, there are two types of contacts – first of them are formed for a very short time, whereas second ones are stable and solid. The last are particularly important in cells with high demand, for example, that are situated in muscles and heart, because they provide fast and effective processing of fats.
Researches show that when a person suffers from obesity and diabetes the structure of these contacts change. Lipid droplets increase in size, mitochondria fragment and move away from them due to the loss of proteins-mediators. As a result, fat acids are not processed, but accumulated in a cell, thus leading to insulin resistance.
Besides this, in the course of analysis authors have found out that mitochondria, that are permanently connected with lipid droplets, form a special functional subpopulation. They are different from "free" mitochondria in bioenergetic processes, form and protein composition. Thus, when contacts of these mitochondria with lipid droplets are disrupted, the whole class of vitally important intracellular components get lost.
"Our research has enabled to systematize existing knowledge about causes of metabolic syndrome and disruption in mitochondria's work that occur during this disease. Proteins that normally provide cooperation of mitochondria and lipid droplets, can become molecular targets for aiming new medicinal drugs, that will deal not with consequences, but with the cause of the disease", - tells Natalia Todosenko, Ph.D, Biology, senior research associate of Centre of Immunology and Cellular Biotechnologies of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University.
More information:
dx.doi.org/10.2174/0109298673309247240610050423
Provided by Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University
