Carnitine acetyltransferase (Crat) in hunger-sensing AgRP neurons permits adaptation to calorie restriction

What is it about?

During prolonged states calorie restriction the body adapts to conserve fat supply by limited fat burning. In order to do this the brain must sense a change in calorie supply, however, how the brain does this remains unknown. In this study, we show that an enzyme called carnitine acetyl-transferase inside hunger-sensing neurons helps to sense low calorie availability during calorie restriction and control the balance between fat storage and fat burning. This may have significant implications for post dieting weight management in patients with metabolic diseases.

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