Signals from fat cells may help regulate other tissues

Harvard: Fat cells are not simply big blobs of lipid quietly standing by in the body—instead, they send out hormones and other signaling proteins that affect many types of tissues. Harvard Medical School scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have identified a route by which fat also can deliver a form of small RNAs called microRNAs that helps to regulate other organs. “This mechanism may offer the potential to develop an entirely new therapeutic approach,” said C. Ronald Kahn, the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Joslin's chief academic officer, and senior author of a paper on the research published in the journal Nature.

Inability to safely store fat increases risk of diabetes and heart disease

Cambridge: A large-scale genetic study has provided strong evidence that the development of insulin resistance – a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart attacks and one of the key adverse consequences of obesity – results from the failure to safely store excess fat in the body. Overeating and lack of physical activity worldwide has led to rising levels of obesity and a global epidemic of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. A key process in the development of these diseases is the progressive resistance of the body to the actions of insulin, a hormone that controls the levels of blood sugar. When the body becomes resistant to insulin, levels of blood sugars and lipids rise, increasing the risk of diabetes and heart disease. However, it is not clear in most cases how insulin resistance arises and why some people become resistant, particularly when overweight, while others do not.