Scientists Turn Fat Into Muscle -- You're Thinking Cheesecake, Right?

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Scientists Turn Fat Into Muscle -- You're Thinking Cheesecake, Right?

By Gellene, Times Staff Writer

July 29, 2006

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-

fat29jul29,1,2710287.story

Research out of UCLA this week sounds like a dream come true:

Scientists say they have found a way to turn fat cells into muscle.

As reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

researchers took stem cells from fat donated by liposuction patients

and treated the cells with chemicals to produce functioning muscle

cells.

When stimulated with drugs, scientists said, the tiny muscle cells

flexed and stretched — perfectly toned.

Dr. Albert D. Donnenberg of the University of Pittsburgh said the

study was an important step toward providing cell-based treatments.

The body has different kinds of muscle. The UCLA team produced smooth

muscle, which lines blood vessels and the intestinal tract. So the

discovery won't help build biceps, which are made of skeletal muscle.

Lead author Dr. Larissa V. , a UCLA urologist, said the

experiment could one day allow scientists to rebuild the urethra in

women with urinary incontinence. Her lab is working on urethras and

bladders for small animals, she said.

envisions using a patient's own cells to develop

personalized treatments, thus avoiding the rejection problems

associated with organ transplants. And stem cells from fat are easily

obtained from patients, unlike the therapeutically promising

mesenchymal stem cells, which are in bone marrow.

Donnenberg said fat-derived therapies are on a faster track than

those using embryonic stem cells, which face technical and political

obstacles.

A fat-derived treatment could be ready for human tests in two years,

said.