Purdue University
researchers have come up with the
ability of a compound known as piceatannol (see structure) to help prevent the formation of
mature fat cells by blocking the pathways needed for their growth. Piceatannol
is an analog of resveratrol, found in grapes and other fruit, which is
converted to piceatannol in humans following its consumption.
Purdue assistant
professor of food science Kee-Hong Kim and his associates tested piceatannol in
cultured preadipocytes, which are immature fat cells. These cells pass through
several stages before reaching maturity over a ten day or longer period.
"These precursor cells, even though they have not accumulated lipids, have
the potential to become fat cells," Dr Kim explained. "We consider
that adipogenesis is an important molecular target to delay or prevent fat cell
accumulation and, hopefully, body fat mass gain."
Dr Kim's team found
that piceatannol bound to the preadipocytes' insulin receptors during their
initial stage of fat cell formation, which blocked insulin's ability to control
cell cycles and activate genes necessary for the further stages of
adipogenesis. "Piceatannol actually alters the timing of gene expressions,
gene functions and insulin action during adipogenesis, the process in which
early stage fat cells become mature fat cells," Dr Kim stated. "In
the presence of piceatannol, you can see delay or complete inhibition of
adipogenesis."
"Our study
reveals an antiadipogenic function of piceatannol and highlights insulin
receptor and its downstream insulin signaling as novel targets for piceatannol
in the early phase of adipogenesis," the authors conclude.
Dr Kim hopes to test
piceatannol in an animal model as well as find a way to prevent the compound
from degrading so that enough is available to the body to prevent fat gain.
"We need to work on improving the stability and solubility of piceatannol
to create a biological effect," he added.
Ref : http://www.jbc.org/content/287/14/11566.abstract?sid=48fa8a22-7a4d-4561-9585-80d643245a89
