Why do some people have the capital to be obese? Do some people suffer from chronic diseases once they become obese?

Obesity is a common disease of civilization among modern people. It is known that obesity is related to many metabolic diseases, but why do some people appear cute and healthy when fat, while others become plagued by chronic diseases? Experimental studies have found that stomatin plays an important role in the development of chronic diseases such as obesity.

Excessive amounts of stomatin promote the ability of fat to take up fatty acids, greatly accelerating the progression of pathological cell hypertrophy.

Research: Lipoprotein accelerates fat cell hypertrophy and induces abnormalities of metabolic syndrome

Stomatin is a protein transcribed from the STOM gene. It is widely present in the cell membrane or organelle surface of various cells. It can be found in peripheral blood, liver, embryos and other organs. In the past, the scientific community believed that stomatin was just a membrane protein related to genetic blood diseases. However, the research team of Yang-Ming National Chiao Tung University confirmed in a series of cell and animal studies that stomatin regulates the differentiation of fat through the intracellular ERK signaling pathway and affects the ability of cells to absorb fatty acids. It not only accelerates fat cell hypertrophy, but also induces abnormal phenomena of metabolic syndrome.

Wu Shaoqin, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Excellence in Tumor Metastasis at National Yang-Ming National Chiao Tung University, observed in cell experiments that stomatin is highly expressed in differentiated adipocytes and is located on the surface of lipid droplets and cell membranes while studying at the Institute of Biomedical Optics and Electronics. By reducing the expression of stomatin, it can be observed that the accumulation and differentiation of lipids inside the cells are significantly inhibited; high expression of stomatin will accelerate the fusion of lipid droplets inside the cells and promote the ability of cells to absorb fatty acids.

In subsequent animal experiments, the researchers fed mice a high-calorie diet for 20 weeks and compared wild-type mice with STOM transgenic mice that overexpressed stomatin. They found that the transgenic mice that could transcribe stomatin had significantly higher body weight and fat tissue weight than normal mice, and could also induce metabolic symptoms such as insulin resistance and abnormal liver function. But interestingly, the researchers found that as long as the mice ate a normal diet, their weight and health remained normal.

Excessive amounts of stomatin promote the ability of fat to absorb fatty acids, accelerating the progression of cellular hypertrophy.

Dr. Wu Shaoqin explained that when excess calories are consumed, the body can store fat in two ways: by increasing the number and size of fat cells. When the body chooses to increase its ability to store fat by increasing the number of fat cells, maintaining the normal function of fat cells is considered to be a healthier obesity. However, if fat cells gain weight by expanding the cells, excessive fat accumulation in the cells will greatly increase the chance of cell dysfunction and lose their normal storage function. Free fatty acids will be absorbed by various tissues, thereby affecting the normal functions of various organs and inducing the occurrence of diseases. Excessive amounts of stomatin promote the ability of fat to take up fatty acids, greatly accelerating the progression of pathological cell hypertrophy.

Some people, even if they are obese and have high body fat, do not suffer from metabolic diseases, while others are plagued by diseases. Obesity-induced metabolic symptoms may be related to differences in the regulation of adipocyte differentiation and fat absorption. This study opens up a new direction for the application of stomatin in health risk assessment and drug development in preventive medicine.

This research was jointly completed by President Lin Qihong, Assistant Researcher Dr. Dong Jianyi and Dr. Wu Shaoqin from the Center for Excellence in Tumor Metastasis, and has been published in Nature Communications under the journal Nature this year.