High Blood Fat Levels Induce Stress in Skeletal Muscle Cells Which Can Then Transmit Damaging Messages to Naïve Neighboring Muscle Cells Via Ceramide Signal Packaged in Extracellular Vesicles (EVs); This EV-Spread Damage May Be Involved in the Association of Type2 Diabetes with Obesity, May Point to Possible Therapeutic Approaches

In patients with metabolic diseases, elevated fat levels in the blood create stress in muscle cells, a reaction to changes outside the cells which damage their structure and function. An international research team led by the University of Leeds and with participation by the University of Bonn has discovered that these stressed-out cells give off a signal which can be passed on to other cells. The signals, known as ceramides, may have a protective benefit in the short-term, because they are part of a mechanism designed to reduce stress in the cell. But in metabolic diseases, which are long-term conditions, the signals can kill the cells, make symptoms more severe, and worsen the illness. The study was published online on April 1, 2022 in Nature Communications. The open-access article is titled “Long-Chain Ceramides Are Cell Non-Autonomous Signals Linking Lipotoxicity to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress In Skeletal Muscle.”