Dressler Lab Publishes on KCP in Journal of Biological Chemistry

By Elizabeth Walker | August 30 2017

The kielin/chordin-like protein (KCP) attenuates high-fat diet-induced obesity and metabolic syndrome in mice, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, examines the effects of shifting the TGF-beta signaling paradigm through the expression of KCP, a secreted inhibitor of TGF-beta and an activator of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling pathway. 

Abdul Soofi, PhD, et al of the Dressler Laboratory found that mice that are mutant in KCP can develop obesity and metabolic disease, a process accentuated by a high fat diet.  However, mice that express a KCP transgene in the liver and kidney are protected from most all of the effects of a high fat diet, including obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease. Moreover, KCP expression appear to alter thermoregulation and promote browning of white adipose tissue.