Today's "Cell": The switch to burn calories has been found!

How many people have dreamed of "eat whatever you want without gaining weight".

This discovery is based on the continuous deepening of our understanding of "brown fat" in the past.

In order to simulate the natural process of brown fat burning calories, the researchers decided to re-explore from scratch.

What is the use of this receptor? Researchers also used mouse models to increase the expression of GPR3 ​​receptors on the surface of their brown fat cells through genetic modification.

▲Mice overexpressing GPR3 ​​burned more energy and gained less weight (picture source: reference [1])

What's more surprising is that increasing the level of GPR3 ​​receptors on the surface of brown adipocytes can also combat metabolic diseases in mice that are already obese.

"By increasing GPR3 ​​levels in obese mice through genetic tools, we can reverse weight gain and completely restore glucose control to them," said the first author of this article and doctoral student Olivia Sveidahl Johansen.

This discovery also points out a new direction, so that we may be able to promote fat burning by increasing the level of GPR3 ​​on the surface of human fat cells.

▲GPR3 has a unique regulation method that does not rely on ligands (picture source: reference [1])

But although GPR3 ​​is also a receptor, it can "self-activate" without external signals.

Note: The original text has been deleted

Reference materials:

[1] Olivia Sveidahl Johansen et al.

[2] Scientists turn up calorie-burning in brown fat with a unique'on' switch, Retrieved May 27, 2021, from https://cbmr.