Researchers discovered an enzyme that plays a key role in the development of metabolic syndrome, which could eventually lead to a new treatment for the condition.
The enzyme is involved in intercellular signaling, and was discovered by University of Utah researchers; the team plans to hand the findings over to a U of U spinoff company to begin developing a drug to treat the condition.
"The approved drug therapies do not treat or prevent this condition in most people," said Jared Rutter Ph.D, senior author of a study describing the research published July 3, 2014, in Cell Reports. "But given the results of our research with mouse and rat models, we are hopeful that metabolic syndrome can be effectively treated with drug therapy someday soon."
Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that increase the risk of " high blood sugar levels, abnormal cholesterol readings, and obesity," U of U reported. A common feature of the condition is the storage of fatty acids and triglycerides.
The research team found the enzyme, dubbed PASK stimulates the overproduction of both fatty acids and triglycerides. PASK stimulates the protein SREBP-1c, which is the "master regulator" of fat-making enzymes.
The new drug would prevent PASK from modifying SREBP-1c.; which would then prevent SREBP-1c from increasing the production of fat-making enzymes. The end result would be a drop in fatty acids and triglycerides in the liver.
"We hope that this is an example where science leads us not only to a better understanding of how the body works, but also to the discovery of approaches that we can use to treat human disease," Rutter said.
Researchers are still unsure what causes fatty acids and triglycerides to be overproduced, but future work by the researchers will work to uncover this information as well as exactly how PASK activates SREBP-1c.
