fats

Scientists ID molecular 'switch' in liver that triggers harmful effects of saturated and trans fats

... first time, how consuming foods rich in saturated fats and trans-fatty acids causes elevated blood levels...rt that the harmful effects of saturated and trans fats are set in motion by a biochemical switch, or co-activator, in liver cells called PGC-1beta. Until ...

The secret lives of whales

...arden?to break down the whale bone and feed on the fats and proteins inside. “They are an example of extre...inants across the globe and depositing them in the fats of seafood,?says Payne. Now in the final year of a five-year global voyage, Payne’s institute has fo...

Opposing fat metabolism pathways triggered by a single gene

...tem controlling the consumption and composition of fats in the nematode. Using RNAi to suppress gene expression, the researchers discovered that when nhr-49 was absent, the lifespan of the nematode was reduced by more than 50%, and the animal displayed numerous gross abnormalities in the gut and gonad. T...

Molecule that usually protects infection-fighting cells may cause plaque deposits inside arteries

...rotected macrophages go on to encourage buildup of fats on the interior walls of arteries, according to Dr. Toru Miyazaki, senior author of a study that appears in the March issue of the journal Cell Metabolism. "We found that AIM is highly expressed in certain macrophages and that lack of AIM dramatical...

Future diabetes drugs may target new protein interaction

...ssues. In the liver, it triggers the conversion of fats into sugar, particularly when access to food is limited. But no one knew exactly how it was controlled or what else it might need in order to launch the sugar-making process. Sirtuin1, like its sirtuin relatives, is best known for removing molecular...

PHACCS, an online tool for estimating the structure and diversity of uncultured viral communities using metagenomic information

...ssues. In the liver, it triggers the conversion of fats into sugar, particularly when access to food is limited. But no one knew exactly how it was controlled or what else it might need in order to launch the sugar-making process. Sirtuin1, like its sirtuin relatives, is best known for removing molecular...

Computational verification of protein-protein interactions by orthologous co-expression

...ssues. In the liver, it triggers the conversion of fats into sugar, particularly when access to food is limited. But no one knew exactly how it was controlled or what else it might need in order to launch the sugar-making process. Sirtuin1, like its sirtuin relatives, is best known for removing molecular...

Eliminate Data Analysis Bottlenecks in Drug Discovery

...ssues. In the liver, it triggers the conversion of fats into sugar, particularly when access to food is limited. But no one knew exactly how it was controlled or what else it might need in order to launch the sugar-making process. Sirtuin1, like its sirtuin relatives, is best known for removing molecular...

Fat's fate depends on its source

...rrent study supports the notion that the source of fats affects their physiology. New fats are required to burn fat normally and to maintain glucose and cholesterol levels within the normal r...

Beyond genes: Lipid helps cell wall protein fold into proper shape

...manufacture complex compounds such as proteins and fats out of simple compounds. "The next goal now that we've defined the phenomenon is to get into the specifics, find the mechanisms by which these proteins fold. What part of the protein interacts with the lipid, and what part of the lipid with the prot...

Drugs from the deep blue

... of metabolism, Molinski said. Some are related to fats and proteins; others include elements such as bromine, sometimes bonded into improbable structures. "It's a rich, complex and edited chemical library," Molinski said. "They're really fascinating little jewels made by niche creatures." As well as be...

Baby's genes affect mom's cholesterol levels

...ined that a pregnant woman's ability to metabolize fats is determined not only by her genes but by her baby's genes as well. The details of their findings appear in the November issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal. The researchers, le...

Tiny polyps gorge themselves to survive coral bleaching

...ith only two alternatives: Draw energy from stored fats within its body, or eat organic matter and plankton in the surrounding water," she said. But what has puzzled Grottoli and other researchers is why in some bleaching events, some corals quickly died off while others close by were able to recover. T...

Evidence for omega 3 fats less conclusive than we thought, say experts

...oesn't find evidence of a clear benefit of omega 3 fats on health. These findings do not rule out an impo...the health effects of long and short chain omega 3 fats on total mortality, cardiovascular events, cancer, and strokes. Each study involved a treatment gro...

Sweet 'water taste' paradoxically predicts sweet taste inhibitors

...sirable high sweetness that results from replacing fats with sweet carbohydrates in reduced-fat products such as snack foods and salad dressings. "The extremely close parallels between the behavior of the human sweet taste receptor and the perceptual phenomenon are remarkable," comments Breslin. "This t...

Rutgers researchers find fat gene

...ein catalyst that is required for the formation of fats ?triglycerides, specifically. The breakthrough for Carman's group grew out of work with ordinary baker's yeast; a simple single cell organism. "We isolated the PAP enzyme from yeast that corresponds in form to lipin in mammals and showed that yeast...

Finding a better way to make biodiesel

... materials such as used restaurant oils and animal fats ?materials that are much cheaper than soy oil, but...e used as a catalyst to efficiently convert animal fats into biodiesel by creating a mixed oxide catalyst that has both acidic and basic catalytic sites. Ac...

Eat less, weigh more? Enzyme makes lean mice 'susceptible' to dietary fat

... somehow tells the cells in the body to break down fats for energy and the muscle cells to use more energy. Therefore, identifying molecules that interact with malonyl-CoA will help scientists understand how energy balance and body weight is controlled. "We are beginning to understand what the hypothala...

For super-obese patients, duodenal switch beats gastric bypass

...he intestines to limit absorption, particularly of fats and starches. This study involved 350 consecutive super-obese patients who underwent weight-loss surgery at the University of Chicago Hospitals between Aug. 5, 2002, and Nov. 10, 2005. One hundred ninety-eight patients underwent duodenal switch ...

New success in engineering plant oils

...ils to find ways to manipulate the accumulation of fats using genetic techniques." The researchers focu...f desaturation and increase the level of saturated fats in the plant seeds. Their hypothesis was supported by the fact that scientists had previously ide...

Biodiesel study targets cleaner air, cleaner engines

...e from locally available sources, including animal fats and plant oils such as soybean, sunflower and canola. During normal farm field work, a research team from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada tested both pure and blended biodiesel, in which the renewable fuel is mixed with petroleum diesel. Evalua...

Skimmed milk -- Straight from the cow

... likely by 2011. The milk is very low in saturated fats and so should be high in polyunsaturates and monou...e if whole milk can be made to contain unsaturated fats – which are good for you – then it might mean that people change back to whole milk products. The bi...

Hormone helps mice 'hibernate,' survive starvation

... energy, spurs a metabolic shift to burning stored fats instead of carbohydrates and induces a hibernation...e. FGF21, in turn, stimulates the use of stored fats as energy and causes torpor. In properly fed mice, FGF21 is not normally active; however, when the r...