Saturated fatty acids may wreak havoc in your overall heart health says a new study. Using a new technique to visualise the distribution and dynamics of fatty acids inside living cells, researchers have discovered why saturated fats when taken in excess could prove to be a threat to cause a wide variety of lipid-related diseases. Saturated fats, such as those released from lard could be toxic to a variety of cells too.
The study published in in the
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), further suggested how in place of refined oil that are laden in saturated fats, one can use fish and olive oil which are not only low on saturated fatty acids but are also packed in many unsaturated 'good' fats, which play a crucial role in protecting the cells from damage.
The findings could have significant impact on both the understanding and treatment of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease said the researchers.
"The behaviour of saturated fatty acids once they've entered cells contributes to major and often deadly diseases," said principal investigator of the study Wei Min, Professor at Columbia University in New York.
"Visualising how fatty acids are contributing to lipid metabolic disease gives us the direct physical information we need to begin looking for effective ways to treat them. Perhaps, for example, we can find a way to block the toxic lipid accumulation," Min added.
For the study, the team developed a new microscopy technique that allows for the direct tracking of fatty acids after they have been absorbed into living cells. The device replaced hydrogen atoms on fatty acids with their isotope, deuterium, without changing their physicochemical properties and behaviour like traditional strategies do. By making this switch, it became possible for all molecules made from fatty acids to be observed inside living cells by an advanced imaging technique called stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy.
The findings revealed that cellular process of building the cell membrane from saturated fatty acids lead to patches of hardened membrane in which molecules are "frozen."Scientists explained that under healthy conditions, this membrane should be flexible and the molecules fluidic.
Stiff, straight, long chains of saturated fatty acids rigidify the lipid molecules and cause them to separate from the rest of the cell's membrane, the researchers further noted.
Under their microscope, it was found that those lipid molecules then accumulate in tightly-packed "islands," or clusters, that do not move much - a state they call "solid-like."
It was further found that as more and more saturated fatty acids enter the cell, the clusters expand in size - thus leading to increasing inelasticity of the membrane and gradually damaging the entire cell.
"We found that adding unsaturated fatty acids could 'melt' the membrane islands frozen by saturated fatty acids," said first author Yihui Shen, a graduate student in Min's lab.
This mechanism may also help explain the beneficial effect of unsaturated fatty acids better and how these unsaturated fats like those from fish oil could play a protective role in some lipid disorders.