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'Bad' Protein Linked to Numerous Health Problems
nbahi15 writes "A report in the July 13th edition of the online Journal of Clinical Investigation has linked the aP2 protein to asthma and several other diseases. It also suggests a connection between the metabolic and immune systems and these diseases." From a related Forbes article: "To study the effects of aP2, the researchers created genetically engineered mice that could not produce the protein. 'They're metabolic supermice,' Hotamisligil said. 'We cannot make them obese, diabetic or atherosclerotic. They don't develop fatty liver disease, and they don't develop asthma.' In mice with an animal model of asthma, the researchers found that aP2 regulated the infiltration of inflammatory molecules into the lungs."
Wow. Someone among the first ten posts didn't post an "I for one ... mouse overlords" cliche.
No, it seems to me that these proteins are made by the body, while prions are infectious agents (though made entirely of protein themselves).
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
If these proteins are so bad, and so easy to genetically engineer out, then from an evolutionary standpoint, why do we have these genes?
The gene is linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and asthma. Obesity has only become a problem within the last hundred years or so as we've become more sedentary and gotten access to more food. Heart disease has increased because of a recent increase in saturated and trans-fats in our diet. Also, heart disease tends to kill people after they've raised children, so after you've passed on your genes. The article doesn't specify which type of diabetes this protein is linked to, but type II diabetes is linked with obesity (see obesity), and simply old age (already raised kids). Asthma is mostly caused by pollution, and possibly an overly hygenic environment during childhood (though there's genetic risk factors of course) which are both recent phenomenon.
The point is that it could easily be that this protein hasn't posed a threat to us until very recently when our lifestyle has changed drastically. The gene that produces this protein wouldn't be eliminated if in the past it posed no threat to producing offspring and raising them to maturity.
AccountKiller
Not Really, Prions are foreign proteins than convert regular proteins into identical molecules. aP2 on the other hand is a protein produced by the body that simply makes things worse. Of course, this is over simplifying a bit but you can read the article and the wikipedea article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion and see for yourself.
I did a Google search on "aP2", and I noticed two distinct types of results. It looks like "aP2", which the main article discusses, and "AP-2", which is discussed in the articles you linked to, are two very different proteins, with confusingly similar abbreviations.
"aP2", the topic of the main article, is the "adipocyte lipid-binding protein", also known as "ALBP".
"AP2", or "AP-2", is "Activator protein 2" or "Activator protein-2alpha". It seems to be associated, not with fat, but with cancer.
(T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)