Scientists have discovered that a small chemokine protein released by activated platelets, platelet factor 4 (PF 4), reduced neuroinflammation, and improved cognition in aged mice. The study was published on Aug. 16 in the online edition of Nature.
Researchers led by Congcong He at Northwestern University have found that exercise caused contracting muscles to secrete a glycoprotein called fibronectin (FN1) that induced autophagy in the liver which, in turn, drove insulin sensitization. They reported their findings online in Cell Metabolism on Feb. 21, 2023. He is an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at the Feinberg School of Medicine.
Scientists have identified proteins that changed in response to exercise specifically in trial participants whose blood sugar control improved after taking up an exercise regimen. Based on serum protein analysis, the investigators also developed a machine-learning algorithm that could predict whether an individual’s metabolic sensitivity would be improved by exercise.
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have been able to identify proteins that were released from muscles during exercise in relatively small quantities. Using their method, the team was able to demonstrate that the neurotrophic factor prosaposin was produced during exercise. Prosaposin is “a well-known CNS neurotrophic factor, but has never been seen to come out of muscle or fat,” Bruce Spiegelman told BioWorld. Spiegelman is a researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Stanley J. Korsmeyer Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
