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A new class of anti-obesity compounds with potential anti-diabetic properties

Prevalence of Self-Reported Obesity Among U.S. Adults by State and Territory, BRFSS, 2014 (credit: Behavorial Risk Factor Surveillance System/CDC)

A molecule known as MnTBAP* has rapidly reversed obesity in mice and could be effective for humans in the future, according to researchers from Skidmore College and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

“In the span of a month, mice with pre-existing obesity lost 20 percent of their body weight and about 50 percent of their fat mass,” said Thomas H. Reynolds, PhD., an associate professor of Health and Exercise Sciences at Skidmore College. The weight loss is explained partly by a decrease in food consumption, but other mechanisms are also at play, according to the study published Wednesday (Sept. 23, 2015) in an open-access paper in PLOS One.

The authors report that MnTBAP also has beneficial effects on type 2 diabetes by improving insulin action in muscle and fat. Insulin is the hormone that allows tissues to take up glucose. “In type 2 diabetics, insulin action is impaired, causing the pancreas to go into overdrive in an attempt to maintain normal blood glucose levels.

“Over time, the pancreas becomes exhausted and can’t keep up, leading to rising blood glucose levels and the development of diabetes,” Jonathan Brestoff, the study’s first author, said in an exclusive interview with KurzweilAI. Brestoff is now at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

He said this molecule represents “a new class of anti-obesity compounds with potential anti-diabetic properties.” He has co-founded the biotech company Symmetry Therapeutics, Inc. to translate the team’s science into clinical applications to treat obesity via an anti-obesity compound called SYM401.

Symmetry is taking an unusual approach with its drug development by crowdfunding part of its research on the platform IndieGoGo. Brestoff said their efforts have gained international attention for attempting to add transparency to an otherwise secretive industry, and have attracted donations and private investors. Their campaign ends October 6, 2015.

On Monday Sept. 21, the CDC published new statistics on obesity in the United States indicating that it remains one of the biggest public health problems facing this country.

* Also known as Manganese [III] 5,10,15,20-tetrakis benzoic acid porphyrin.

Abstract of Manganese [III] Tetrakis [5,10,15,20]-Benzoic Acid Porphyrin Reduces Adiposity and Improves Insulin Action in Mice with Pre-Existing Obesity

The superoxide dismutase mimetic manganese [III] tetrakis [5,10,15,20]-benzoic acid porphyrin (MnTBAP) is a potent antioxidant compound that has been shown to limit weight gain during short-term high fat feeding without preventing insulin resistance. However, whether MnTBAP has therapeutic potential to treat pre-existing obesity and insulin resistance remains unknown. To investigate this, mice were treated with MnTBAP or vehicle during the last five weeks of a 24-week high fat diet (HFD) regimen. MnTBAP treatment significantly decreased body weight and reduced white adipose tissue (WAT) mass in mice fed a HFD and a low fat diet (LFD). The reduction in adiposity was associated with decreased caloric intake without significantly altering energy expenditure, indicating that MnTBAP decreases adiposity in part by modulating energy balance. MnTBAP treatment also improved insulin action in HFD-fed mice, a physiologic response that was associated with increased protein kinase B (PKB) phosphorylation and expression in muscle and WAT. Since MnTBAP is a metalloporphyrin molecule, we hypothesized that its ability to promote weight loss and improve insulin sensitivity was regulated by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), in a similar fashion as cobalt protoporphyrins. Despite MnTBAP treatment increasing HO-1 expression, administration of the potent HO-1 inhibitor tin mesoporphyrin (SnMP) did not block the ability of MnTBAP to alter caloric intake, adiposity, or insulin action, suggesting that MnTBAP influences these metabolic processes independent of HO-1. These data demonstrate that MnTBAP can ameliorate pre-existing obesity and improve insulin action by reducing caloric intake and increasing PKB phosphorylation and expression.

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A new distance record for quantum teleportation via photons

This graphic describes how researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have “teleported” or transferred quantum information carried in light particles over 100 kilometers (km) of optical fiber, four times farther than the previous record. (credit: K. Irvine/NIST)

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have “teleported” (transferred) quantum information carried in photons over 100 kilometers (km) of optical fiber — four times farther than the previous record.

The experiment confirmed that quantum communication is feasible over long distances in fiber, according to the researchers. Other research groups have teleported quantum information over longer distances in free space (wirelessly), but fiber-optic cables offer more options for network design, the NIST researchers note.

Teleportation is useful in both quantum communications and quantum computing, which allow advancements in unbreakable encryption and code-breaking, respectively.

The new record, described in an open-access paper in Optica, involved the transfer of quantum information from one photon (its specific time slot in a sequence) to another photon* over 102 km of spooled fiber in a NIST laboratory in Colorado.

The achievement was made possible by NIST’s advanced single-photon detectors.

“Only about 1 percent of photons make it all the way through 100 km of fiber,” NIST’s Marty Stevens says. “We never could have done this experiment without these new detectors, which can measure this incredibly weak signal.”

Quantum internet

The new NTT/NIST teleportation technique could be used to make devices called quantum repeaters that could resend data periodically, extending network reach, perhaps enough to eventually build a “quantum internet.”

Previously, researchers thought quantum repeaters might need to rely on atoms or other matter, instead of light, a difficult engineering challenge that would also slow down transmission.*

* Various quantum states can be used to carry information; the NTT/NIST experiment used quantum states that indicate when in a sequence of time slots a single photon arrives. That teleportation method is novel in that four of NIST’s photon detectors were positioned to filter out specific quantum states. (See graphic for an overview of how the teleportation process works.) The detectors rely on superconducting nanowires made of molybdenum silicide. They can record more than 80 percent of arriving photons, revealing whether they are in the same or different time slots each just 1 nanosecond long. The experiments were performed at wavelengths commonly used in telecommunications.

Because the experiment filtered out and focused on a limited combination of quantum states, teleportation could be successful in only 25 percent of the transmissions at best. Thanks to the efficient detectors, researchers successfully teleported the desired quantum state in 83 percent of the maximum possible successful transmissions, on average. All experimental runs with different starting properties exceeded the mathematically significant 66.7 percent threshold for proving the quantum nature of the teleportation process.

Abstract of Quantum teleportation over 100  km of fiber using highly efficient superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Quantum teleportation is an essential quantum operation by which we can transfer an unknown quantum state to a remote location with the help of quantum entanglement and classical communication. Since the first experimental demonstrations using photonic qubits and continuous variables, the distance of photonic quantum teleportation over free-space channels has continued to increase and has reached >100  km. On the other hand, quantum teleportation over optical fiber has been challenging, mainly because the multifold photon detection that inevitably accompanies quantum teleportation experiments has been very inefficient due to the relatively low detection efficiencies of typical telecom-band single-photon detectors. Here, we report on quantum teleportation over optical fiber using four high-detection-efficiency superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). These SNSPDs make it possible to perform highly efficient multifold photon measurements, allowing us to confirm that the quantum states of input photons were successfully teleported over 100 km of fiber with an average fidelity of 83.7±2.0%.