An obesity-preventing protein identified during experiments on mice is expected to lead to the development of a weight-reducing drug.
The protein was identified by a team of researchers from Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. and Keio University, who published their findings in the March 21 online edition of U.S. science magazine, Nature Medicine.
In 2003, Keio University researchers led by Yuichi Oike, a lecturer at the university's medical school, and Yamanouchi's Molecular Medicine Laboratories, found a new protein secreted by the liver that is capable of reproducing veins and skin.
The research team named it angiopoietin-related growth factor (AGF).
To shed light on the mechanism of the protein, which also exists in humans, mice were engineered to lose their AGF.
They grew to about 50 grams, much larger than ordinary mice, who usually weigh an average of 30 grams.
The genetically engineered mice had a lower basal metabolism, more fat in their internal organs and a higher level of subcutaneous fat.
But mice who were modified to have twice as much AGF only gained about eight grams after eating high-calorie food for three months, and showed no signs of diabetes.
Ordinary mice that ate the same food during the same period gained 24 grams and showed diabetic symptoms, the researchers found.
Oike said if a drug capable of increasing the amount of AGF in humans could be produced, it would be a major development for treating obesity and diabetes.