Recent studies have unequivocally established the link between FTO and obesity. FTO was biochemically shown to belong to the AlkB-like family DNA/RNA demethylase. However, FTO differs from other AlkB members in that it has unique substrate specificity and contains an extended C-terminus with unknown functions. Insight into the substrate selection mechanism and a functional clue to the C-terminus of FTO were gained from recent structural and biochemical studies. These data would be valuable to design FTO-specific inhibitors that can be potentially translated into therapeutic agents for treatment of obesity or obesity-related diseases.
Zhifu Han, Ning Huang, Tianhui Niu, Jijie Chai,
. A loop matters for FTO substrate selection[J]. Protein & Cell, 2010
, 1(7)
: 616
-620
.
DOI: 10.1007/s13238-010-0082-2