Do chili peppers block and kill fat-forming cells and help prevent obesity? Isabella Aversa York House School Floor Location: M89H

Chili peppers have been used as spices in food for many centuries across cultures. The spiciness of chili peppers is due to a compound called capsaicin. The reason that chili gives a burning sensation is that Capsaicin binds to a protein called TRPV1 on peripheral sensory nerve cells which is normally activated by heat. The TRPV1 receptor is also present on other cell types and these may be susceptible to the action of capsaicin.

Studies have indicated that populations eating chili peppers are less prone to obesity and that feeding of capsaicin to mice on high-fat diet prevented obesity.

The anti-obesity effects of capsaicin have been thought to occur through killing and inhibiting the growth of cells which give rise to fat cells (adipocytes). These cells are called pre-adipocytes. However, no experiment so far has been done on the effect of capsaicin on the real pre-adipocytes, derived from normal tissue.

All experiments so far have been done on an immortalized cell line called 3T3-L1. This cell line is not derived from pre-adipocytes but from fibroblasts, which is a different type of cells that usually produce the structure of animal tissues. 3T3-L1 cells can artificially be induced to resemble pre-adipocytes by treating them with specific compounds. Therefore it would be important to see whether capsaicin can kill and inhibit the growth of the true pre-adipocites derived from normal tissue rather than from an artificial cell system. These pre-adipocytes are leftovers of mouse cells prepared for other experiments by the laboratory which is hosting me.

This project aim is to study the effect of capsaicin on normal mouse pre-adipocyte growth and survival. The ability of these pre-adipocytes to generate mature fat cells in the presence of capsaicin will also be determined by looking at their ability to accumulate fat.

The findings would help in understanding the mechanism by which capsaicin interferes with fat accumulation and assess the potential of this compound in preventing and treating obesity.