COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have developed a new, lean mouse that might lead to controlling obesity and related disorders by manipulating a specific protein.
To create the hybrid, Ohio State University researchers crossed mice deficient in protein kinase C beta with the C57 black mouse -- a common animal used in research for studying diabetes and obesity.
"These animals can eat more than normal and they have less fat than normal," said Professor Kamal Mehta, the study's senior author. "That's a dream come true if it can (eventually) be extended to human beings."
The hybrid mice not only appear smaller and leaner, the researchers found they have less fat distribution in their skin and less fat tissue overall. The fat cells they did have were found to be smaller than fat cells in other mice.
And the new mice lost weight while eating up to 30 percent more food than other mice. That, the scientists said, suggests the protein deficiency corrected for the obesity tendencies by increasing the hybrids' ability to burn fat.
The study, which included researchers Rishipal Bansode, Wei Huang and Sanjit Roy, appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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