Metabolism
Abstract
TLR4 is the receptor for LPS and plays a critical role in innate immunity. Stimulation of TLR4 activates proinflammatory pathways and induces cytokine expression in a variety of cell types. Inflammatory pathways are activated in tissues of obese animals and humans and play an important role in obesity-associated insulin resistance. Here we show that nutritional fatty acids, whose circulating levels are often increased in obesity, activate TLR4 signaling in adipocytes and macrophages and that the capacity of fatty acids to induce inflammatory signaling in adipose cells or tissue and macrophages is blunted in the absence of TLR4. Moreover, mice lacking TLR4 are substantially protected from the ability of systemic lipid infusion to (a) suppress insulin signaling in muscle and (b) reduce insulin-mediated changes in systemic glucose metabolism. Finally, female C57BL/6 mice lacking TLR4 have increased obesity but are partially protected against high fat diet–induced insulin resistance, possibly due to reduced inflammatory gene expression in liver and fat. Taken together, these data suggest that TLR4 is a molecular link among nutrition, lipids, and inflammation and that the innate immune system participates in the regulation of energy balance and insulin resistance in response to changes in the nutritional environment.
Authors
Hang Shi, Maia V. Kokoeva, Karen Inouye, Iphigenia Tzameli, Huali Yin, Jeffrey S. Flier
Abstract
Obesity is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation. Thus, at metabolically relevant sites, including adipose tissue and muscle, there is abnormal production of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. Here we demonstrate that eNOS expression was reduced, with a concomitant reduction of mitochondrial biogenesis and function, in white and brown adipose tissue and in the soleus muscle of 3 different animal models of obesity. The genetic deletion of TNF receptor 1 in obese mice restored eNOS expression and mitochondrial biogenesis in fat and muscle; this was associated with less body weight gain than in obese wild-type controls. Furthermore, TNF-α downregulated eNOS expression and mitochondrial biogenesis in cultured white and brown adipocytes and muscle satellite cells of mice. The NO donors DETA-NO and SNAP prevented the reduction of mitochondrial biogenesis observed with TNF-α. Our findings demonstrate that TNF-α impairs mitochondrial biogenesis and function in different tissues of obese rodents by downregulating eNOS expression and suggest a novel pathophysiological process that sustains obesity.
Authors
Alessandra Valerio, Annalisa Cardile, Valeria Cozzi, Renata Bracale, Laura Tedesco, Addolorata Pisconti, Letizia Palomba, Orazio Cantoni, Emilio Clementi, Salvador Moncada, Michele O. Carruba, Enzo Nisoli
Abstract
The forkhead transcription factor FoxO1 has been identified as a negative regulator of insulin/IGF-1 signaling. Its function is inhibited by phosphorylation and nuclear exclusion through a PI3K-dependent pathway. However, the structure/function relationship of FoxO1 has not been elucidated completely. In this study, we carried out mutation analysis of the FoxO1 coactivator–interacting LXXLL motif (amino acids 459–463). Expression of a 3A/LXXAA mutant, in which 3 Akt phosphorylation sites (T24, S253, and S316) and 2 leucine residues in the LXXLL motif (L462 and L463) were replaced by alanine, decreased both Igfbp-1 and G6Pase promoter activity and endogenous Igfbp-1 and G6Pase gene expression in simian virus 40–transformed (SV40-transformed) hepatocytes. Importantly, mutagenesis of the LXXLL motif eliminated FoxO1 interaction with the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide–dependent (NAD-dependent) deacetylase sirtuin 1 (Sirt1), sustained the acetylated state of FoxO1, and made FoxO1 nicotinamide and resveratrol insensitive, supporting a role for this motif in Sirt1 binding. Furthermore, intravenous administration of adenovirus encoding 3A/LXXAA FoxO1 into Leprdb/db mice decreased fasting blood glucose levels and improved glucose tolerance and was accompanied by reduced G6Pase and Igfbp-1 gene expression and increased hepatic glycogen content. In conclusion, the LXXLL motif of FoxO1 may have an important role for its transcriptional activity and Sirt1 binding and should be a target site for regulation of gene expression of FoxO1 target genes and glucose metabolism in vivo.
Authors
Jun Nakae, Yongheng Cao, Hiroaki Daitoku, Akiyoshi Fukamizu, Wataru Ogawa, Yoshihiko Yano, Yoshitake Hayashi
Abstract
Hepatic insulin resistance affects both carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. It has been proposed that insulin controls these 2 metabolic branches through distinct signaling pathways. FoxO transcription factors are considered effectors of the pathway regulating hepatic glucose production. Here we show that adenoviral delivery of constitutively nuclear forkhead box O1 (FoxO1) to mouse liver results in steatosis arising from increased triglyceride accumulation and decreased fatty acid oxidation. FoxO1 gain of function paradoxically increased insulin sensitivity by promoting Akt phosphorylation, while FoxO1 inhibition via siRNA decreased it. We show that FoxO1 regulation of Akt phosphorylation does not require DNA binding and is associated with repression of the pseudokinase tribble 3 (Trb3), a modulator of Akt activity. This unexpected dual role of FoxO1 in promoting insulin sensitivity and lipid synthesis in addition to glucose production has the potential to explain the peculiar admixture of insulin resistance and sensitivity that is commonly observed in the metabolic syndrome.
Authors
Michihiro Matsumoto, Seongah Han, Tadahiro Kitamura, Domenico Accili
Abstract
Many homeostatic processes, including appetite and food intake, are controlled by neuroendocrine circuits involving the CNS. The CNS also directly regulates adipocyte metabolism, as we have shown here by examining central action of the orexigenic hormone ghrelin. Chronic central ghrelin infusion resulted in increases in the glucose utilization rate of white and brown adipose tissue without affecting skeletal muscle. In white adipocytes, mRNA expression of various fat storage–promoting enzymes such as lipoprotein lipase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase α, fatty acid synthase, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase–1 was markedly increased, while that of the rate-limiting step in fat oxidation, carnitine palmitoyl transferase–1α, was decreased. In brown adipocytes, central ghrelin infusion resulted in lowered expression of the thermogenesis-related mitochondrial uncoupling proteins 1 and 3. These ghrelin effects were dose dependent, occurred independently from ghrelin-induced hyperphagia, and seemed to be mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Additionally, the expression of some fat storage enzymes was decreased in ghrelin-deficient mice, which led us to conclude that central ghrelin is of physiological relevance in the control of cell metabolism in adipose tissue. These results unravel the existence of what we believe to be a new CNS-based neuroendocrine circuit regulating metabolic homeostasis of adipose tissue.
Authors
Claudia Theander-Carrillo, Petra Wiedmer, Philippe Cettour-Rose, Ruben Nogueiras, Diego Perez-Tilve, Paul Pfluger, Tamara R. Castaneda, Patrick Muzzin, Annette Schürmann, Ildiko Szanto, Matthias H. Tschöp, Françoise Rohner-Jeanrenaud
Abstract
Adipocytes secrete a variety of bioactive molecules that affect the insulin sensitivity of other tissues. We now show that the abundance of monocyte chemoattractant protein–1 (MCP-1) mRNA in adipose tissue and the plasma concentration of MCP-1 were increased both in genetically obese diabetic (db/db) mice and in WT mice with obesity induced by a high-fat diet. Mice engineered to express an MCP-1 transgene in adipose tissue under the control of the aP2 gene promoter exhibited insulin resistance, macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue, and increased hepatic triglyceride content. Furthermore, insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, and macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue induced by a high-fat diet were reduced extensively in MCP-1 homozygous KO mice compared with WT animals. Finally, acute expression of a dominant-negative mutant of MCP-1 ameliorated insulin resistance in db/db mice and in WT mice fed a high-fat diet. These findings suggest that an increase in MCP-1 expression in adipose tissue contributes to the macrophage infiltration into this tissue, insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis associated with obesity in mice.
Authors
Hajime Kanda, Sanshiro Tateya, Yoshikazu Tamori, Ko Kotani, Ken-ichi Hiasa, Riko Kitazawa, Sohei Kitazawa, Hitoshi Miyachi, Sakan Maeda, Kensuke Egashira, Masato Kasuga
Abstract
Stearoyl-CoA desaturase–1 (SCD1) catalyzes the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated fatty acids. Mice with a targeted disruption of Scd1 gene locus are lean and display increased insulin sensitivity. To examine whether Scd1 activity is required for the development of diet-induced hepatic insulin resistance, we used a sequence-specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASO) to lower hepatic Scd1 expression in rats and mice with diet-induced insulin resistance. Treatment of rats with Scd1 ASO markedly decreased liver Scd1 expression (~80%) and total Scd activity (~50%) compared with that in rats treated with scrambled ASO (control). Insulin clamp studies revealed severe hepatic insulin resistance in high-fat–fed rats and mice that was completely reversed by 5 days of treatment with Scd1 ASO. The latter treatment decreased glucose production (by ~75%), gluconeogenesis, and glycogenolysis. Downregulation of Scd1 also led to increased Akt phosphorylation and marked decreases in the expression of glucose-6-phosphatase (Glc-6-Pase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). Thus, Scd1 is required for the onset of diet-induced hepatic insulin resistance.
Authors
Roger Gutiérrez-Juárez, Alessandro Pocai, Claudia Mulas, Hiraku Ono, Sanjay Bhanot, Brett P. Monia, Luciano Rossetti
Abstract
Diabetes results from an absolute or relative reduction in pancreatic β cell mass (BCM) leading to insufficient insulin secretion and hyperglycemia. Measurement of insulin secretory capacity is currently used as a surrogate measure of BCM. However, serum insulin concentrations provide an imprecise index of BCM, and no reliable noninvasive measure of BCM is currently available. Type 2 vesicular monoamine transporters (VMAT2) are expressed in human islet β cells, as well as in tissues of the CNS. [11C]Dihydrotetrabenazine ([11C]DTBZ) binds specifically to VMAT2 and is a radioligand currently used in clinical imaging of the brain. Here we report the use of [11C]DTBZ to estimate BCM in a rodent model of spontaneous type 1 diabetes (the BB-DP rat). In longitudinal PET studies of the BB-DP rat, we found a significant decline in pancreatic uptake of [11C]DTBZ that anticipated the loss of glycemic control. Based on comparison of standardized uptake values (SUVs) of [11C]DTBZ and blood glucose concentrations, loss of more than 65% of the original SUV correlated significantly with the development of persistent hyperglycemia. These studies suggest that PET-based quantitation of VMAT2 receptors provides a noninvasive measurement of BCM that could be used to study the pathogenesis of diabetes and to monitor therapeutic interventions.
Authors
Fabiola Souza, Norman Simpson, Anthony Raffo, Chitra Saxena, Antonella Maffei, Mark Hardy, Michael Kilbourn, Robin Goland, Rudolph Leibel, J. John Mann, Ronald Van Heertum, Paul E. Harris
Abstract
Recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia impair sympathoadrenal counterregulatory responses (CRRs) to a subsequent episode of hypoglycemia. For individuals with type 1 diabetes, this markedly increases (by 25-fold) the risk of severe hypoglycemia and is a major limitation to optimal insulin therapy. The mechanisms through which this maladaptive response occurs remain unknown. The corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) family of neuropeptides and their receptors (CRFR1 and CRFR2) play a critical role in regulating the neuroendocrine stress response. Here we show in the Sprague-Dawley rat that direct in vivo application to the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), a key glucose-sensing region, of urocortin I (UCN I), an endogenous CRFR2 agonist, suppressed (~55–60%), whereas CRF, a predominantly CRFR1 agonist, amplified (~50–70%) CRR to hypoglycemia. UCN I was shown to directly alter the glucose sensitivity of VMH glucose-sensing neurons in whole-cell current clamp recordings in brain slices. Interestingly, the suppressive effect of UCN I–mediated CRFR2 activation persisted for at least 24 hours after in vivo VMH microinjection. Our data suggest that regulation of the CRR is largely determined by the interaction between CRFR2-mediated suppression and CRFR1-mediated activation in the VMH.
Authors
Rory J. McCrimmon, Zhentao Song, Haiying Cheng, Ewan C. McNay, Catherine Weikart-Yeckel, Xiaoning Fan, Vanessa H. Routh, Robert S. Sherwin
Abstract
Authors
Stuart P. Weisberg, Deborah Hunter, Reid Huber, Jacob Lemieux, Sarah Slaymaker, Kris Vaddi, Israel Charo, Rudolph L. Leibel, Anthony W. Ferrante Jr.
Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)