Genetic Mutation Causes No Weight to be Gained with High Sugar Diet

Scientists are taking steps toward new methods of suppressing obesity. They've examined the effects of a high-sugar diet, and have now pinned down a key gene for drugs to target in order to curb weight gain.

In order to better understand how to best to mitigate the effects of a high-sugar diet, the researchers built on previous work with C. elegans. The scientists found that certain genetic mutants, more specifically those with a hyperactive SKN-1 gene, could be fed incredibly high sugar diets without gaining any weight. In contrast, regular C. elegans gained an immense amount of weight when fed the same diet.

"The high-sugar diet that the bacteria ate was the equivalent of a human eating the Western diet," said Sean Curran, one of the researchers, in a news release.

What's interesting is that the SKN-1 gene also exists in humans, where it's called Nrf2. This suggests that these findings are not just applicable to C. elegans, but could also be applicable to people.  The Nrf2 protein is a "transcription factor" that binds to a specific sequence of DNA to control the ability of cells to detox or repair damage when exposed to chemically reactive oxygen.

Currently, companies have already started to develop drugs that target Nrf2 in hopes that it will produce more anti-oxidants and slow aging. These new findings show that companies may want to target the gene for other reasons-to potentially curb obesity.

"Perhaps it is a matter of timing and location," said Curran. "If we can acutely activate Nrf2 in specific tissues when needed then maybe we can take advantage of its potential benefits."

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.