City of Hope researchers link single protein to obesity, cancer

DUARTE - City of Hope researchers think they may have found a cure for obesity that has nothing to do with diet and exercise.

Their research, released this month in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, has linked obesity to a single human protein -- which scientists working at City of Hope think they may be able to target using pills.

The protein, called RLIP76, works like a pump to remove toxic agents from cells. And it may play a significant role in weight gain, according to the study. Researchers studied mice that lacked the protein and found they were resistant to weight gain despite a high-fat diet. The mice also had low blood sugar and cholesterol.

"It links cancer, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes into a single disease-causing gene," said Sanjay Awasthi, M.D., a professor of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism and of medical oncology at City of Hope, and an author of the study.

"When you get rid of this gene in a mouse, the mouse can't get obese, it can't get diabetes, it can't get high cholesterol and it can't get cancer," Awasthi said. "We've tried many ways of causing cancer in these mice, even by implanting a tumor into the mouse, and the cancer either never forms or it can't grow."

Previous research by Awasthi and Sharad Singhal, a study author and a research professor in the Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at City of Hope, also found that targeting

the protein in cancer cells may help cancer patients. Cancer cells produce excessive amounts of the protein, which makes them highly resistant to treatment such as chemotherapy. All humans have the gene that produces RLIP76, just in varying quantities, Awasthi said.

Given this research, the City of Hope plans to begin clinical trials with patients before the end of the year, according to Awasthi. In trials, scientists will test the effect of reducing the amount of protein in obesity and cancer patients' bodies, which Awasthi said could have incredible results.

Treatment will come in the form of pills for obese patients and IV therapy for cancer patients, he said.

"There's no other single treatment that does this, period. Most of the drugs that have made it on the market, they mostly treat a small percentage of the cancers that are out there because they only work with certain mutations, whereas this thing works regardless of mutations," Awasthi said. "Because cancers need this to work."

The protein is "overexpressed" in many types of cancer cells, including melanoma, prostate and breast cancer, according to Singhal, who also said treatment targeting the protein could help obese patients.

"This will affect many people," Singhal said. "Obesity is a global disease."

Researchers' work linking the protein to obesity comes on the heels of the American Medical Association's decision in June to recognize obesity as a disease. An estimated two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and 300 million people around the world struggle with obesity, according to a report issued by the City of Hope.

Researchers have already started a clinical study of obese patients to detect if levels of the protein are higher in their blood than normal levels, according to Awasthi. A past study indicated that this may be the case, he said.

The researchers said they are waiting for grant funding to begin clinical trials.

Source: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_23655131/city-hope-researchers-link-single-protein-obesity-cancer?source=rss_viewed

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