Epigenetic changes to fat cells following exercise
2013-07-03
(Press-News.org) Exercise, even in small doses, changes the expression of our innate DNA. New research from Lund University in Sweden has described for the first time what happens on an epigenetic level in fat cells when we undertake physical activity.
"Our study shows the positive effects of exercise, because the epigenetic pattern of genes that affect fat storage in the body changes", says Charlotte Ling, Associate Professor at Lund University Diabetes Centre.
The cells of the body contain DNA, which contains genes. We inherit our genes and they cannot be changed. The genes, however, have 'methyl groups' attached which affect what is known as 'gene expression' – whether the genes are activated or deactivated. The methyl groups can be influenced in various ways, through exercise, diet and lifestyle, in a process known as 'DNA methylation'. This is epigenetics, a relatively new research field that in recent years has attracted more and more attention.
In the study, the researchers investigated what happened to the methyl groups in the fat cells of 23 slightly overweight, healthy men aged around 35 who had not previously engaged in any physical activity, when they regularly attended spinning and aerobics classes over a six-month period.
"They were supposed to attend three sessions a week, but they went on average 1.8 times", says Tina Rönn, Associate Researcher at Lund University.
Using technology that analyses 480 000 positions throughout the genome, they could see that epigenetic changes had taken place in 7 000 genes (an individual has 20 000 genes).
They then went on to look specifically at the methylation in genes linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity.
"We found changes in those genes too, which suggests that altered DNA methylation as a result of physical activity could be one of the mechanisms of how these genes affect the risk of disease", says Tina Rönn, adding that this has never before been studied in fat cells and that they now have a map of the DNA methylome in fat.
In the laboratory, the researchers were able to confirm the findings in vitro (studying cell cultures in test tubes) by deactivating certain genes and thus reducing their expression. This resulted in changes in fat storage in fat cells.
###
Publication:
A Six Months Exercise Intervention Influences the Genome-wide DNA Methylation Pattern in Human Adipose Tissue, PLOS Genetics, June 2013
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Knowing the end goal increases productivity
2013-07-03
Working in a team is not always easy, and achieving our aims often turns out to be much harder than we thought it would be. What can we do to increase our chances of gaining ultimate success? A new study from Aarhus University's transdisciplinary Interacting Minds Centre (IMC) provides insight into how to improve productivity when members of a group share a clearly identifiable goal.
"Our study focused on how to improve levels of cooperation. What we found was that when people know exactly what they're supposed to be doing as members of a team, they are more willing ...
Thin-film diamonds
2013-07-03
WASHINGTON D.C., June 28, 2013 -- A new method for creating thin films of diamonds, which is described in the journal Applied Physics Letters, produced by AIP Publishing, may allow manufacturers to enhance future electronics.
In industrial and high-tech settings, diamonds are particularly valued for their hardness, optical clarity, smoothness, and resistance to chemicals, radiation and electrical fields. For electronics applications, researchers "dope" diamonds in order to make them conductive, introducing the semiconductor boron into the diamond manufacturing process. ...
Computer programs improve fingerprint grading
2013-07-03
Subjectivity is problematic when evaluating fingerprints, and quality is in the eye of the examiner. But three computer programs used together can give fingerprint grading unprecedented consistency and objectivity, according to Penn State researchers.
"People leave behind all kinds of fingerprints, and the job of a forensic examiner is then to look at a fingerprint and identify a person who could have left it," said Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Penn State. "Various scenarios can be envisioned where a fingerprint ...
Semantics on the basis of words' connectivity
2013-07-03
Two Brazilian physicists have now devised a method to automatically elucidate the meaning of words with several senses, based solely on their patterns of connectivity with nearby words in a given sentence – and not on semantics. Thiago Silva and Diego Amancio from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, reveal, in a paper about to be published in EPJ B, how they modelled classics texts as complex networks in order to derive their meaning. This type of model plays a key role in several natural processing language tasks such as machine translation, information retrieval, content ...
Researcher warns banned fountain of youth drug may be making a comeback
2013-07-03
(Boston)--Despite it being more than 30 years since the "fountain of youth drug" Gerovital H3 was banned in the United States, it may be making a comeback. In an editorial published in this month's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society BUSM researcher Thomas Perls, MD, points out that a few U.S.-based anti-aging and longevity clinics have begun to advertise Gerovital H3 in pill form and as intravenous infusions despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned it in 1982.
Gerovital H3 is the dental anesthetic procaine hydrochloride (novocaine), ...
Remarkable 32 new wasp species from the distinctive Odontacolus and Cyphacolus genera
2013-07-03
The wasp family Platygastridae is a large group of tiny, exclusively parasitoid wasps distributed worldwide. The genera Odontacolus and Cyphacolus, belonging to this family, are among the most distinctive wasps because of the peculiar hump-like formation on the rear part of their bodies. Despite their intriguing body shape, the generic status of these two groups has remained unclear. A new extensive study published in the open access Zookeys presents a morphological phylogenetic analysis including an astonishing 32 new species.
The peculiar shape of the so called horn ...
Research team improves immunization strategies for dengue fever in Thailand
2013-07-03
AMHERST, Mass. – Using a unique data set spanning 40 years of dengue fever incidence in Thailand, an international team led by biostatistician Nicholas Reich at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has for the first time estimated from data that after an initial dengue infection, a person is protected from infection with other strains for between one and three years.
Their results have implications for designing more effective vaccine studies, say Reich and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Michigan and the Armed ...
Military sonar can alter blue whale behavior
2013-07-03
DURHAM, N.C. -- Some blue whales off the coast of California change their behavior when exposed to the sort of underwater sounds used during U.S. military exercises. The whales may alter diving behavior or temporarily avoid important feeding areas, according to new research.
The Southern California Behavioral Response Study exposed tagged blue whales in the California Bight to simulated mid-frequency (3.5-4 kHz) sonar sounds significantly less intense than the military uses.
"Whales clearly respond in some conditions by modifying diving behavior and temporarily avoiding ...
Gateway for metastases
2013-07-03
This news release is available in German. Malignant tumours often spread to remote areas of the body. In the majority of cases, metastases formation develops via the blood vascular system. The blood platelets thereby provide invaluable help to the tumour cells in penetrating new organs. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim have identified the P2Y2 receptor molecule on the cells of the blood platelet wall as the gateway that allows the cancer cells to enter the organs. They now aim to prevent the formation of metastases ...
Gladstone scientists identify molecular switch that kick starts formation of arteries
2013-07-03
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—July 3, 2012—The ability to form blood vessels is one of evolution's crowning achievements, and something that separates vertebrates (animals with a backbone) from the rest of the animal kingdom. The two types of blood vessels, arteries and veins, are formed from the same precursor cell type—endothelial cells—that become committed to an arterial or venous cell fate during embryonic development. Yet precisely what drives this commitment, which is essential for shaping cardiovascular development, has long eluded researchers. Now, scientists at the Gladstone ...