Jeonga Kim, Ph.D., and collaborators, published “Endothelial autophagy-related gene 7 contributes to high fat diet-induced obesity” in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Metabolism.
Kim, the study’s corresponding author, is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, and a scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC).
Kim has studied the roles of endothelial cells in obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance for many years. She explained that endothelial function is crucial in nutrient metabolism by transporting lipids, glucose, hormones, and oxygen.
“Because autophagy [the process by which cells break down and recycle their components] is such an important cellular process, we thought that endothelial cell autophagy may play a role in insulin resistance and endothelial function in high-fat diet-induced metabolic dysfunction,” Kim said.
ATG7 is a key protein in the process of autophagy. Researchers investigated the roles of endothelial cell-ATG7 (EC-ATG7) on high-fat diet-induced obesity and its related metabolic dysfunction. They measured body weight, food intake, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and liver fat accumulation in EC-ATG7-deficient mice and control mice.
Kim said she expected the deletion of EC-ATG7 to be detrimental to insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis, however, researchers found the opposite.
“Surprisingly, the deletion of endothelial ATG7 preserved insulin sensitivity with high-fat diet feeding,” Kim said. “Also, the deletion of endothelial cell ATG7 suppressed the high-fat diet-induced weight gain by reducing food intake. This observation opens up new research to explore how endothelial cells regulate food intake. I am excited about this finding and will expand my research to a new direction linking endothelial cell function to appetite regulation.”
Overall, Kim said the study’s findings may have implications for developing new therapeutic strategies for preventing and treating obesity and its associated health risks such as Type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular disease.
Other study authors in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine include Guag Ren, Ph.D., Sushant Bhatnagar, Ph.D., Martin E. Young, Ph.D., and Timmy Lee, M.D., M.S.P.H.