Daijiworld Media Network - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, Apr 27: A team of US researchers has identified the cellular trigger behind age-related abdominal fat gain, offering new hope for future therapies aimed at preventing belly fat and extending healthy lifespans.
The findings, published in the prestigious journal Science, are the result of preclinical research by City of Hope, one of America’s leading cancer research and treatment centres.
“People often lose muscle and gain fat as they age even if their body weight stays the same,” said Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology at City of Hope’s Arthur Riggs Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute.
The study found that aging sparks the arrival of a new type of adult stem cell, dramatically boosting the production of fat cells, particularly around the midsection.
In collaboration with UCLA researcher Xia Yang, Wang’s team conducted extensive mouse experiments, later confirmed on human cells. They focused on white adipose tissue (WAT), the fatty tissue responsible for most age-related fat gain.
Their research showed that not only do fat cells enlarge with age, but white adipose tissue also creates new fat cells, giving it the potential for limitless growth. The culprit was identified as adipocyte progenitor cells (APCs), a stem cell group that matures into fat cells.
When APCs from older mice were transplanted into young mice, the cells quickly generated an overwhelming number of new fat cells. In contrast, young APCs placed in older mice did not produce as many fat cells, proving that aged APCs are inherently more active.
Further investigation using single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that a specific pathway, called leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR), plays a crucial role in stimulating these APCs — termed CP-As to multiply and form new fat cells in middle age.
“Our research shows that the body’s fat-making process is driven by LIFR. Young mice don’t need this signal, but older mice do,” Wang explained.
Highlighting the significance of the findings, Wang added, “Controlling new fat-cell formation could be vital to tackling age-related obesity in the future.”