Researcher J. Mark Brown and his team at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute have discovered a protein that might promote obesity and diabetes. Therefore, blocking that protein, called ABHD6, might prevent these diseases.

ABHD6 regulates the brain’s endocannabinoid system, which is involved in metabolism, cravings and hunger.

Brown discovered ABHD6’s role in fat storage while studying a mutation in a different protein in the same group, ABHD5. “Normally, fat is stored in triglyceride tissue,” Brown explains. “With abnormal ABHD5, fat is stored in every other cell in the body. In studying that we discovered a crucial breakdown in ABHD6 and we decided to study it.”

Brown conducted a study in mice to see how fat was stored in ABHD6, to see if it impacted type-2 diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease. He found that blocking the protein’s function had a direct impact on these diseases.

The research indicates that blocking function of ABHD6 in mice protects against all diseases driven by eating a high-fat diet. Further research could actually lead to a pill that would block ABHD6, and therefore prevent obesity.

Brown’s findings were published last week in the journal Cell Reports. “Our paper will be the first that shows the importance of the enzyme in regulating the way the body stores fat,” explains Brown, who has spent the past four years researching ABHD6.

“It’s hard to say if it would ever end up being a magic pill to cure obesity,” says Brown. “We look at it like a preventative measure. We’re really excited to move forward with it and conduct safety trials with humans. We know it works in mice, so it’s very important to translate our findings into human studies as quickly as we can.”

Source: J. Mark Brown
Writer: Karin Connelly