Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Biochemists Link Synthetic Compound to Hunger-Hormone Production

Thursday, July 27, 2017, By Elizabeth Droge-Young
Share
College of Arts and SciencesfacultyResearch and CreativeSTEMStudents

New research suggests that a man-made cousin of a small molecule found in olive oil can disrupt the hunger-signaling pathway. Researchers identified this promising new target by screening a library of roughly 1,600 small molecules for potential disruptors. Because the small molecule could influence how the body senses and utilizes energy, it has the potential to be developed into a treatment for conditions that affect energy balance, like diabetes and obesity.

James Hougland

James Hougland

“Given the hunger signaling pathway’s suggested role in metabolism control, molecules that control signaling may provide new avenues for treating diabetes, obesity and other conditions linked to the body’s intake and use of energy,” says James Hougland, associate professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences and the study’s corresponding author.

The research was published online in Biochemistry earlier this year. Its authors include John Chisholm, professor of chemistry; Kayleigh McGovern-Gooch, Ph.D. candidate and lead author; Nivedita Mahajani, Ph.D. candidate; Michelle Sieburg, Hougland lab manager; Anthony Schramm ’16; Lauren G. Hannah ’17; and Ariana Garagozzo, an undergraduate summer research intern from Dickinson College.

The Hougland lab researches ghrelin, a hormone involved in hunger signaling and metabolic activity. Ghrelin plays a role in “the balance between taking in energy, as calories from food, and using that energy to support life,” Hougland says.

Ghrelin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract and transported to the hypothalamus in the brain via the bloodstream, where it signals hunger. Ghrelin levels drop after eating to turn off the impulse to consume more.

There are a number of steps that lead to production of ghrelin—and the small molecule identified in this study could halt one. An enzyme called ghrelin O-acyltransferase, or GOAT, plays a crucial role in creating active ghrelin. GOAT acts by sticking a fatty acid onto ghrelin, which is an essential modification for ghrelin to control biological signaling.

The promising molecule identified in this study is a synthetic triterpenoid, a class of molecules naturally made by plants, which includes cholesterol. This particular molecule is a highly modified version of oleanolic acid, which naturally occurs in olive oil, garlic and other plants.

Prior to this study, all known GOAT inhibitors resembled part of acylated ghrelin, and only one had shown the ability to inhibit GOAT within cells or in animals. To find the synthetic triterpenoid identified in this paper, the authors ran 50 enzyme assays a day, working through the Diversity Set IV from the Developmental Therapeutics Program—a library containing roughly 1,600 small molecules.

“We wanted to cast our molecular net as wide as possible to look for potential inhibitor candidates,” Hougland explains.

The small molecule identified in the study prevents an eight-carbon fatty acid from being added to the ghrelin precursor proghrelin, which should stop the whole pathway in its tracks. The chemical structure of the small molecule suggests it interacts with sulfur atoms in GOAT. The sulfur atoms are part of cysteine amino acids, a standard building block of proteins. Guided by the small molecule inhibitor, Hougland and coworkers used a range of chemical probes to confirm that cysteine modification can block GOAT modification of ghrelin.

Because there are multiple cysteines in GOAT, Hougland is currently searching for the specific one affected by the inhibitory small molecule. Identifying the right player will bring the researchers one step closer to understanding how GOAT modifies ghrelin, which is essential for developing potent inhibitors of this process. Hougland is currently working with collaborators at Syracuse and other universities to develop promising lab findings into potential therapeutics.

“Our study suggests a new potential mechanism for GOAT inhibition,” Hougland says. “More broadly, our results demonstrate the ability of basic research to provide new and exciting insights into how molecules may be interacting with our bodies.”

This work was funded by the American Diabetes Association, the March of Dimes, the Foundation for Prader Willi Research (FPWR) and the National Institutes of Health.

  • Author

Elizabeth Droge-Young

  • Recent
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey
  • Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G
    Thursday, June 19, 2025, By Matt Michael
  • 2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship
    Tuesday, June 17, 2025, By News Staff
  • WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By News Staff
  • Inaugural Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows Announced
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In STEM

WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony

This spring, Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) held its annual Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Award Ceremony. WiSE was honored to host distinguished guest speaker Joan-Emma Shea, who presented “Self-Assembly of the Tau Protein: Computational Insights Into Neurodegeneration.” Shea…

Endowed Professorship Recognizes Impact of a Professor, Mentor and Advisor

Bao-Ding “Bob” Cheng’s journey to Syracuse University in pursuit of graduate education in the 1960s was long and arduous. He didn’t have the means for air travel, so he voyaged more than 5,000 nautical miles by boat from his home…

Forecasting the Future With Fossils

One of the most critical issues facing the scientific world, no less the future of humanity, is climate change. Unlocking information to help understand and mitigate the impact of a warming planet is a complex puzzle that requires interdisciplinary input…

ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology

Detecting single photons—the smallest unit of light—is crucial for advanced quantum technologies such as optical quantum computing, communication and ultra-sensitive imaging. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are the most efficient means of detecting single photons and these detectors can count…

Rock Record Illuminates Oxygen History

Several key moments in Earth’s history help us humans answer the question, “How did we get here?” These moments also shed light on the question, “Where are we going?,” offering scientists deeper insight into how organisms adapt to physical and…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.