- WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) — A protein that induces
bone growth also helps promote development of “good” brown fat that helps
burn calories and plays a role in fighting obesity, says researchers at
the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.

They said their finding about the protein, called BMP-7, may help lead
to new ways to prevent and treat obesity.

The two main types of fat cells in the body are white and brown,
explained study author Yu-Hua Tseng, an assistant investigator in Joslin's
Section on Obesity and Hormone Action.

“White fat cells are the 'conventional' form of fat designed to store
energy. By contrast, the main role of brown fat is to burn calories by
generating heat. Brown fat cells largely disappear by adulthood in humans,
but their precursors still remain the body,” Tseng said in a Joslin news
release.

In laboratory studies of mouse cells, Tseng and colleagues found that
BMP-7 drives the precursor cells that give rise to mature brown fat cells.
They also found that injecting BMP-7-treated progenitor cells (similar to
stem cells) into mice led to increased development of brown fat tissue,
and that mice that developed brown fat gained less weight than those that
didn't develop brown fat.

The study was published in the Aug. 21 issue of Nature.

The Joslin team hopes this type of research into fat development will
lead to new drugs or other treatments for obesity.

“Diet and exercise are still the best approaches for weight reduction
in the general population. However, for people who are genetically
predisposed to obesity, these approaches may have very little effect,”
Tseng said.

“As we learn more about the controls of brown fat development, medical
interventions to increase energy expenditure by brown fat inducing agents,
such as BMP-7, may provide hope to these individuals in losing weight and
preventing the metabolic disorders associated with obesity,” she said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases has more about adult obesity.