Breast cancer gene could play critical role in obesity and diabetes

BRCA 1 is expressed in muscle and protects against metabolic disease

2014-03-12

(Press-News.org) College Park, Md. -- The gene known to be associated with breast cancer susceptibility, BRCA 1, plays a critical role in the normal metabolic function of skeletal muscle, according to a new study led by University of Maryland School of Public Health researchers. Dr. Espen Spangenburg, associate professor of kinesiology, and his laboratory team are the first to identify that the BRCA1 protein is expressed in the skeletal muscle of both mice and humans, and that it plays a key role in fat storage, insulin response and mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle cells. The research is published in the Journal of Lipid Research. http://www.jlr.org/content/early/2014/02/24/jlr.M043851.abstract

"Our findings suggest that certain mutations in the BRCA1 gene may put people at increased risk for metabolic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Spangenburg. "Without BRCA1, muscle cells store excess fat and start to look diabetic. We believe that the significance of the BRCA1 gene goes well beyond breast cancer risk."

Dr. Spangenburg and colleagues, including researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Brigham Young University, Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and East Carolina University, found that the BRCA1 protein exists in both mouse and in human skeletal muscle. This is the first evidence since the discovery of BRCA1 in 1994 that the gene is expressed in human muscle cells.

They further established that the protein produced by the BRCA 1 gene binds with a protein known to play an important role in the metabolism of fat in muscle cells known as Acetyl-CoA carboxylase or ACC. After a period of exercise, the BRCA 1 protein binds to ACC, which helps "turns it off." This deactivation of ACC encourages the utilization of fatty acids by the muscle.

Once they established that the two proteins complex together, they sought to answer if BRCA1 plays a critical role in regulating muscle metabolic function. To do so, they "knocked out" the gene so that it was no longer being expressed in the muscle cells cultured from healthy, active and lean female subjects. This was done using shRNA technology specific for BRCA1 in human myotubes (skeletal muscle fiber cells).

The result was that the muscle cells started to look diseased. The removal of BRCA1 from the cells, which simulated what could happen in the cells of a person with a BRCA1 mutation, resulted in increased lipid storage, decreased insulin signaling, reduced mitochondrial function and increased oxidative stress. These are all key risk factors for the development of metabolic diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"Our findings make it clear that BRCA1 plays a protective role against the development of metabolic disease," Dr. Spangenburg explains. "This gene needs to be there, and should be considered a target to consider in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and/or obesity." INFORMATION: "BRCA1 is a Novel Regulator of Metabolic Function in Skeletal Muscle" was written by Kathyrn C. Jackson, Eva-Karin Gidlund, Jessica Norrbom, Ana P. Valencia, David M. Thomson, Rosemary A. Schuh, P. D. Neufer and Espen E. Spangenburg and published in the Journal of Lipid Research. http://www.jlr.org/content/early/2014/02/24/jlr.M043851.abstract

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Large waist linked to poor health, even among those in healthy body mass index ranges

2014-03-12

ROCHESTER, Minn. — March 12, 2014 — Having a big belly has consequences beyond trouble squeezing into your pants. It's detrimental to your health, even if you have a healthy body mass index (BMI), a new international collaborative study led by a Mayo Clinic researcher found. Men and women with large waist circumferences were more likely to die younger, and were more likely to die from illnesses such as heart disease, respiratory problems, and cancer after accounting for body mass index, smoking, alcohol use and physical activity. The study is published in the March edition ...

Economic degrowth compatible with wellbeing if work stability is maintained

2014-03-12

Policies aimed at effectively mitigating climate change through a reduction in economic growth and consumption of fossil fuels would have a monetary impact on the economy, but also an impact on the wellbeing and happiness of individuals. Researchers at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the UAB have taken advantage of the current economic crisis to analyse the impact this situation would have. Scientists used data from a survey conducted in 2011 to measure the degree of happiness and satisfaction in a sample of 950 inhabitants from Barcelona, in ...

Boosting self-esteem prevents health problems for seniors

2014-03-12

This news release is available in French. Wednesday, March 12, 2014 — The importance of boosting self-esteem is normally associated with the trials and tribulations of adolescence. But new research from Concordia University shows that it's even more important for older adults to maintain and improve upon those confidence levels as they enter their twilight years. That's because boosting self-esteem can help buffer potential health threats typically associated with the transition into older adulthood. A new study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, led ...

Bacterium and fungus team up to cause virulent tooth decay in toddlers

2014-03-12

Early childhood caries, a highly aggressive and painful form of tooth decay that frequently occurs in preschool children, especially from backgrounds of poverty, may result from a nefarious partnership between a bacterium and a fungus, according to a paper published ahead of print in the journal Infection and Immunity. The resulting tooth decay can be so severe that treatment frequently requires surgery—in the operating room, says corresponding author Hyun (Michel) Koo of the University of Pennsylvania. "Our data will certainly open the way to test agents to prevent ...

Majority of transgender patients report negative experiences in emergency departments

2014-03-12

A new study out of Western University (London, Canada) has found the majority of transgender patients have had a negative experience when it comes to receiving emergency department (ED) care. The findings, by first author Greta Bauer, PhD, is in press at the Annals of Emergency Medicine, the official publication of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and is now posted online. The study used respondent-driven sampling, a methodology developed to specifically address the challenge of studying hard-to-reach populations. It relies on a snowball sampling, using ...

Metallurgical challenges in microelectronic 3-D IC packaging technology

2014-03-12

Mobile hand-held consumer electronic products have a rapid growing market today, witnessed by the popularity of Apple products. Most people make their first contact to internet, not by a PC, rather by a smart phone. The phone is no longer a phone, but it provides various functions for communication and for entertainment. Not only we can have recorded information such as books, images, songs, and movies from the phone or i-pad, but also we can have instant information such as traffic jam when we drive home, as well as breaking news at the last moment. It is expected that ...

Higher levels of CSF alpha-synuclein predict faster cognitive loss in Parkinson's disease

2014-03-12

Philadelphia, PA, March 11, 2014 – The course of Parkinson disease (PD) can vary from gradual deterioration to precipitous decline in motor or cognitive function. Therefore identifying predictors of progression can benefit understanding of PD disease progression and impact management. Data from 304 PD patients followed for up to 8 years indicate that patients with higher cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) alpha-synuclein levels experienced faster cognitive decline in the following months, although no associations were found between alpha-synuclein levels and motor changes. The results ...

Hasbro Children's Hospital study finds texting program good option for teen girls' health

2014-03-12

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Megan Ranney, M.D., M.P.H., an emergency medicine attending physician at Hasbro Children's Hospital, recently led a study that found a text-message program may be an effective violence prevention tool for at-risk teen girls. The study has been published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health. "Mobile health, or 'mHealth,' is increasingly being used as a way to improve people's health, via text-messaging or phone-based applications," said Ranney. "However, few people have studied whether teens are interested in mHealth, especially for prevention-type ...

Wishing to be another gender: Links to ADHD and autism spectrum disorders

2014-03-12

Children and teenagers with an autism spectrum disorder or those who have attention deficit and hyperactivity problems are much more likely to wish to be another gender. So says John Strang of the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, USA, leader of the first study to compare the occurrence of such gender identity issues among children and adolescents with and without specific neurodevelopmental disorders. The paper is published in Springer's journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Children between 6 and 18 years old were part of the study. They either had ...

Lawns across America: Is the US becoming 1 shade of green?

2014-03-12

Boston and Baltimore. Miami and Minneapolis. Phoenix and Los Angeles. Fanned across the United States and in locations from coast to prairie to desert, what do these cities have in common? How their human residents manage that icon of America, the urban lawn, or so hypothesized a team of scientists. However, when they conducted a study comparing residential landscapes in these six cities, they discovered that lawn care practices had fewer similarities than they expected. Ecologists Colin Polsky of Clark University in Worcester, Mass., Peter Groffman of the Cary Institute ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

DDT residues persist in trout in some Canadian lakes 70 years after insecticide treatment, often at levels ten times that recommended as safe for the wildlife which consumes the fish