Fat Overload Kills Mammalian Cells

Washington School of Medicine scientists say they’ve identified a protein that triggers death in mammalian cells that are overloaded with saturated fat.

“When lipids (fats) accumulate in tissues other than adipose tissue, cellular dysfunction or cell death results,” says senior author Dr. Jean Schaffer, associate professor of medicine, molecular biology and pharmacology at the St. Louis school. “For example, preliminary studies on animals suggest that the accumulation of fat in the pancreas contributes to the development of diabetes, while accumulation of lipids in skeletal muscle of leads to insulin resistance.”

Other studies have linked the genesis of heart failure to fat-induced cell dysfunction and cell death in the heart. “As physicians our primary focus in diabetic patients is on glucose control,” said Schaffer, a cardiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “But it appears we should also be more aggressive with respect to lowering lipids, such as triglycerides and fatty acids.”

The study is said to be the first to identify a critical step in the pathway that leads from high cellular fat to cell death, according to Schaffer.

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