Gut cells may measure hunger by how watery their insides become
Researchers led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have discovered that the natural turnover of gut cells in fruit flies depends on how much food the flies get, rather than on any specific nutrient. They found that gut cells were replaced more frequently when nutrient levels were low and the insides of gut cells were fluid and watery.
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Japan have found that gut cells in fruit flies regulate their turnover based on the viscosity of their cytoplasm, rather than specific nutrient signaling pathways. This discovery, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenges traditional views of nutrient biology.
Gut cells have direct contact with nutrients and are replaced more frequently when nutrient levels are low. The team discovered a new type of cell death, termed erebosis, which increased with a low-yeast, high-sugar diet. Blocking specific amino acid pathways did not suppress erebosis, leading researchers to investigate the quantity of nutrients and the cytoplasmic viscosity within gut cells.
They found that when cells are full of amino acids, the cytoplasm becomes thick and viscous, suppressing erebosis. Metabolically inactive molecules that increase viscosity can produce similar effects, leading to the introduction of the concept of "viscosatiety." The researchers are now investigating if erebosis occurs in the gut cells of mice and humans.
Written by urgent.news from Phys.org's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
