Losing weight without losing muscle is the great challenge of drugs such as Ozempic. A protein keeps the key to face it

It is usual for us to often get news about hopeful scientific advances made in mice. These experiments always leave a question in the air, if the discovery can be applicable to humans. This does not always happen, but sometimes

MITCH Silence the expression of a simple protein in our muscles can lead to weight loss and, more, more, It can allow us to lose weight Without putting our muscle mass at risk. The protein in question is called Mtch2 (Mithochondrial Carrier Homolog 2), but has been nicknamed “Mitch” by those who study the compound and its effects.

The last analysis of this protein and its associated gene has observed that its “erased” in human cells causes in these lower efficiency Energy What is perhaps more important, this silenced causes cells to stop using carbohydrates as a priority energy source and in place they preferably use body fat.

Different fuels. The cells of our body need energy and billions of years of evolution have given rise to a series of biological mechanisms that allow us to maintain a calorie reserve that allow us to feed these cells in times of greater shortage.

These mechanisms imply that our cells can resort to different fuels according to the situation. While the carbohydrates we consume and the fats that we use as a reserve are the main fuel Ozempic.

From mitones to mitochondria. According to Explain the responsible teamthe new study has its bases in a previous experiment conducted with mice that observed in the rodents an “improvement” in their body composition in the form of “protection” against obesity and the development of more muscle fibers. This accompanied by greater consumption of greater oxygen consumption and an increase in resistance.

The results were promising but left the team with a doubt, if it would be possible to “inoculate” the body against obesity by silencing the expression of a protein without this negatively affecting muscle mass. To look for an answer, the team went on to focus on the role of the mitochondría, the organelle in charge of providing energy to the cell.

The key is in the fact that the “mitch” protein plays an important role in the merger of the mitochondria, a fusion capable of increasing the efficiency of these organelles. By silencing protein, organelles would lose the ability to resort to this fusion which also implies less efficiency and thereby a greater need to consume energy resources of our body. It only remained to prove if this was also true in human cells.

Less efficiency, more consumption. They thus verified that by silencing the protein in human cells, the “mitochondrial network” was undone and, as expected, energy efficiency fell. This left the cell in a “permanent state of energy deprivation.” And what is more, the team also found that this led to the cells to prioritize the use of fats as a primary energy source, instead of other possible sources such as carbohydrates.

“After erasing Mitch, we examined, every few hours, the effect that it had in more than 100 substances that take part in the metabolism of human cells,” pointed in a press release Sabita Chourasia, co -author of the study. “We saw an increase in breathing, the process in which the cell produces energy from nutrients, such as carbohydrates and fats. This explains the increase in muscle resistance of previous experiments in mice.”

The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Journal embo.

An intermediate step. The study takes an important step in the long process between the first results in animal models and the design of a treatment for weight loss based on what was learned. In following studies, the team intends to elucidate new aspects about Mitch’s role in the accumulation of fat in the body. The fact that women usually have higher levels of this protein can help researchers discover if Mitch is also responsible for the differentiation of fatty cells.

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Image | Weizmann Institute of Science