New
Scientist: A protein called sarcolipin has been shown to
help muscles generate heat for maintaining body temperature in
mice. Sarcolipin appears to work alongside brown fat, which
regulates heat by burning white fat. Researchers at the Ohio
State University made their discovery by surgically removing
brown fat from two groups of mice: One group produced
sarcolipin, and the other didn't. When subjected to an ambient
temperature of 4 °C, all of the sarcolipin-producing mice
were able to maintain their core temperatures; the mice that
lacked sarcolipin died. The team, led by Muthu Periasamy, also
determined that mice unable to produce sarcolipin were 33%
heavier than their counterparts when fed a high fat diet. That
finding suggests that there might also be a connection between
sarcolipin production and obesity in humans.
