Leipzig University is working on a new approach to treating obesity

An international research team, consisting of scientists from the Universities of Leipzig and Dusseldorf, has taken a significant step towards understanding overweight and obesity. The work, published in the renowned Nature journal „Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy“, identifies a new regulator of eating behaviour: the receptor latrophilin-1.

The investigations led by Dr Doreen Thor (University of Leipzig) and Prof. Dr Simone Prömel (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf) showed that this receptor is found both in the brain regions that control eating behaviour and in adipose tissue. Mice without this receptor showed increased food intake and reduced physical activity, which over time led to severe obesity with the typical secondary diseases such as fatty liver and diabetes mellitus.

The discovery of a receptor variant of latrophilin-1 in the sequencing data of an obesity cohort in Leipzig was particularly noteworthy. This variant occurred in a patient with obesity and showed reduced functionality in cell culture experiments. These results indicate that the receptor could play a role in the development of obesity not only in animal models, but also in humans.

The researchers see these findings as a promising starting point for gaining a better understanding of the regulation of food intake and the development of obesity. Future studies should clarify whether the receptor can serve as a possible pharmacological target for the regulation of food intake in obesity.

The research project was carried out in collaboration with various working groups from the Collaborative Research Centres 1052 „Mechanisms of Obesity“ and 1423 „Structural Dynamics of GPCR Activation and Signal Transduction“ at the Universities of Leipzig and Düsseldorf.

Press release of the "Universität Leipzig" from 30 April 2024