The heart regulates the energy metabolism of the whole organism
Last reviewed: 27.11.2021
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According to the results of a study conducted by scientists from the Southwestern Medical Center of the Texas Institute (UT Southwestern Medical Center), the heart is able to coordinate the whole body's energy metabolism - an opening that can help in developing more effective ways of treating obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart diseases.
Using mice on a diet high in fat, experts determined that the impact on a specific cardiac genetic pathway can prevent the development of obesity and protect animals from the risky changes in blood glucose levels that are characteristic of type 2 diabetes.
" Obesity, diabetes and coronary heart disease are the main causes of death and disability, and all these diseases are associated with metabolism. This study is the first demonstration that the heart is able to regulate systemic metabolism, which we think is opening up a new field of research, "says senior author of the article published in Cell magazine, Eric Olson, PhD, head of research in the field molecular research in UT Southwestern.
The study was conducted on genetically modified mice, which were injected with a trial preparation, which affects the values of two regulatory molecules in the cardiac muscle. The experts determined that MED13, the main component of one of the genetic pathways in cardiac cells, cardiomyocytes, regulates the metabolism in the entire animal organism, while the miR-208a-specific miRNA, miR-208a, suppresses MED13 activity.
Mice with elevated levels of MED13 genetic or pharmacological methods showed no obesity symptoms and demonstrated an increase in energy expenditure. Conversely, in genetically altered mice lacking MED13 in the heart cells, a high predisposition to obesity caused by a diet high in fat was monitored. In addition, in animals, the metabolism of glucose in the blood was disturbed and there were other changes characteristic of the metabolic syndrome associated with the formation of coronary heart disease, infarction and type 2 diabetes.
MicroRNAs are small fragments of genetic material, which initially seemed to scientists to be an uninteresting target for the study, because, unlike long RNA chains, they do not encode proteins. The genes encoding microRNAs were long considered to be a so-called "junk" DNA. Nevertheless, in recent years, these molecules have been recognized as the main regulators of many diseases and reactions to stress that develop in various tissues. Already, about 500 microRNAs have been identified.
"A few years ago, our biology lab focused on this miRNA-specific miRNA, miR-208a, and then in collaboration with one from biotechnology firms created a product for its oppression. In examining its effects, we found that our smaller brothers who received this inhibitor were more resistant to eating high in fat, and did not show symptoms of any other illnesses, "explains Dr. Olson. (Dr. Olson is one of the five co-founders of the biotechnology enterprise miRagen Therapeutics Inc., Colorado, in which UT Southwestern Medical Center has a shareholding.)
As this heart-specific microRNA interacts with different cells of the body, it is still unknown and will become the object of subsequent research.