The glucocorticoid receptor in brown adipocytes is dispensable for control of energy homeostasis
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Prof. Stephan Herzig
PROVIDER: S-SCDT-EMBOR-2019-48552V1 | biostudies-other |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:Aberrant activity of the glucocorticoid (GC)/glucocorticoid receptor (GR) endocrine system has been linked to obesity-related metabolic dysfunction. Traditionally, the GC/GR axis has been believed to play a crucial role in adipose tissue formation and function in both, white (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). While recent studies have challenged this notion for WAT, the contribution of GC/GR signaling to BAT-dependent energy homeostasis remained unknown. Here, we have generated and characterized a BAT-specific GR-knockout mouse (GRBATKO ), for the first time allowing to genetically interrogate the metabolic impact of BAT-GR. The HPA axis in GRBATKO mice was intact, as was the ability of mice to adapt to cold. BAT-GR was dispensable for the adaptation to fasting-feeding cycles and the development of diet-induced obesity. In obesity, glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and food intake remained unchanged, aligning with the absence of changes in thermogenic gene expression. Together, we demonstrate that the GR in UCP1-positive BAT adipocytes plays a negligible role in systemic metabolism and BAT function, thereby opposing a long-standing paradigm in the field.
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Project description:Insulin action initiates a series of phosphorylation events regulating cellular differentiation, growth and metabolism. We have previously discovered, in a mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomic study, that insulin/IGF-1 signalling induces phosphorylation of retinoid x receptor alpha (RXRα) at S22 in mouse brown pre-adipocytes. Here, we show that insulin induces the phosphorylation of RXRα at S22 in both brown precursor and mature adipocytes through a pathway involving ERK, downstream of IRS-1 and -2. We also found that RXRα S22 phosphorylation is promoted by insulin and upon re-feeding in brown adipose tissue in vivo, and that insulin-stimulated S22 phosphorylation of RXRα is dampened by diet-induced obesity. We used Rxra knockout cells re-expressing wild type (WT) or S22A non-phosphorylatable forms of RXRα to further characterize the role of S22 in brown adipocytes. Knockout of Rxra in brown pre-adipocytes resulted in decreased lipid accumulation and adipogenic gene expression during differentiation, and re-expression of RxraWT alleviated these effects. However, we observed no significant difference in cells re-expressing the RxraS22A mutant as compared with the cells re-expressing RxraWT. Furthermore, comparison of gene expression during adipogenesis in the WT and S22A re-expressing cells by RNA sequencing revealed similar transcriptomic profiles. Thus, our data propose a dispensable role for RXRα S22 phosphorylation in adipogenesis and transcription in differentiating brown pre-adipocytes.
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Project description:ObjectiveAdministration of glucagon (GCG) or GCG-containing co-agonists reduces body weight and increases energy expenditure. These actions appear to be transduced by multiple direct and indirect GCG receptor (GCGR)-dependent mechanisms. Although the canonical GCGR is expressed in brown adipose tissue (BAT) the importance of BAT GCGR activity for the physiological control of body weight, or the response to GCG agonism, has not been defined.MethodsWe studied the mechanisms linking GCG action to acute increases in oxygen consumption using wildtype (WT), Ucp1-/- and Fgf21-/- mice. The importance of basal GCGR expression within the Myf5+ domain for control of body weight, adiposity, glucose and lipid metabolism, food intake, and energy expenditure was examined in GcgrBAT-/- mice housed at room temperature or 4 °C, fed a regular chow diet (RCD) or after a prolonged exposure to high fat diet (HFD).ResultsAcute GCG administration induced lipolysis and increased the expression of thermogenic genes in BAT cells, whereas knockdown of Gcgr reduced expression of genes related to thermogenesis. GCG increased energy expenditure (measured by oxygen consumption) both in vivo in WT mice and ex vivo in BAT and liver explants. GCG also increased acute energy expenditure in Ucp1-/- mice, but these actions were partially blunted in Ffg21-/- mice. However, acute GCG administration also robustly increased oxygen consumption in GcgrBAT-/- mice. Moreover, body weight, glycemia, lipid metabolism, body temperature, food intake, activity, energy expenditure and adipose tissue gene expression profiles were normal in GcgrBAT-/- mice, either on RCD or HFD, whether studied at room temperature, or chronically housed at 4 °C.ConclusionsExogenous GCG increases oxygen consumption in mice, also evident both in liver and BAT explants ex vivo, through UCP1-independent, FGF21-dependent pathways. Nevertheless, GCGR signaling within BAT is not physiologically essential for control of body weight, whole body energy expenditure, glucose homeostasis, or the adaptive metabolic response to cold or prolonged exposure to an energy dense diet.
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Project description:Glucocorticoids play important roles in the regulation of distinct aspects of adipocyte biology. Excess glucocorticoids in adipocytes are associated with metabolic disorders, including central obesity, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. To understand the mechanisms underlying the glucocorticoid action in adipocytes, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing to isolate genome-wide glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding regions (GBRs) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Furthermore, gene expression analyses were used to identify genes that were regulated by glucocorticoids. Overall, 274 glucocorticoid-regulated genes contain or locate nearby GBR. We found that many GBRs were located in or nearby genes involved in triglyceride (TG) synthesis (Scd-1, 2, 3, GPAT3, GPAT4, Agpat2, Lpin1), lipolysis (Lipe, Mgll), lipid transport (Cd36, Lrp-1, Vldlr, Slc27a2) and storage (S3-12). Gene expression analysis showed that except for Scd-3, the other 13 genes were induced in mouse inguinal fat upon 4-day glucocorticoid treatment. Reporter gene assays showed that except Agpat2, the other 12 glucocorticoid-regulated genes contain at least one GBR that can mediate hormone response. In agreement with the fact that glucocorticoids activated genes in both TG biosynthetic and lipolytic pathways, we confirmed that 4-day glucocorticoid treatment increased TG synthesis and lipolysis concomitantly in inguinal fat. Notably, we found that 9 of these 12 genes were induced in transgenic mice that have constant elevated plasma glucocorticoid levels. These results suggested that a similar mechanism was used to regulate TG homeostasis during chronic glucocorticoid treatment. In summary, our studies have identified molecular components in a glucocorticoid-controlled gene network involved in the regulation of TG homeostasis in adipocytes. Understanding the regulation of this gene network should provide important insight for future therapeutic developments for metabolic diseases.
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Project description:Dexamethasone (DEX), a synthetic ligand for glucocorticoid receptor (GR), is routinely used to stimulate adipogenesis in culture. GR-depleted preadipocytes show adipogenesis defects 1 week after induction of differentiation. However, it has remained unclear whether GR is required for adipogenesis in vivo By deleting GR in precursors of brown adipocytes, we found unexpectedly that GR is dispensable for brown adipose tissue development in mice. In culture, GR-deficient primary or immortalized white and brown preadipocytes showed severely delayed adipogenesis 1 week after induction of differentiation. However, when differentiation was extended to 3 weeks, GR-deficient preadipocytes showed levels of adipogenesis marker expression and lipid accumulation similar to those of the wild-type cells, indicating that DEX-bound GR accelerates, but is dispensable for, adipogenesis. Consistently, DEX accelerates, but is dispensable for, adipogenesis in culture. We show that DEX-bound GR accelerates adipogenesis by directly promoting the expression of adipogenic transcription factors CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBP?), C/EBP?, C/EBP?, KLF5, KLF9, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ? (PPAR?) in the early phase of differentiation. Mechanistically, DEX-bound GR recruits histone H3K27 acetyltransferase CBP to promote activation of C/EBP?-primed enhancers of adipogenic genes. These results clarify the role of GR in adipogenesis in vivo and demonstrate that DEX-mediated activation of GR accelerates, but is dispensable for, adipogenesis.
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Project description:Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a promising potential therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic diseases. Allicin, a natural product in garlic, has multiple biological and pharmacological functions. However, the role of allicin in the regulation of metabolic organs, particularly BAT activation, has not been well studied. Here, we show that allicin imparts a significant effect by inhibiting body weight gain, decreasing adiposity, maintaining glucose homeostasis, improving insulin resistance, and ameliorating hepatic steatosis in obese mice. These observations strongly correlate with the activation of BAT. Notably, allicin plays a role in BAT activation, which may partly contribute to the Sirt1-PGC1?-Tfam pathway. In addition, allicin can significantly increase the succinylation levels of UCP1 in BAT by inhibiting sirt5, whereas excess allicin induces autophagy/mitophagy and mitochondrial dysfunction. Thus, our findings point to allicin as a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders.
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Project description:Insulin action initiates a series of phosphorylation events regulating cellular differentiation, growth and metabolism. We have previously discovered, in a mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomic study, that insulin/IGF-1 signaling induces phosphorylation of retinoid x receptor alpha (RXRα) at S22 in mouse brown pre-adipocytes. Here, we show that insulin induces the phosphorylation of RXRα at S22 in both brown precursor and mature adipocytes through a pathway involving ERK, downstream of IRS-1 and -2. We also found that RXRα S22 phosphorylation is promoted by insulin and upon re-feeding in brown adipose tissue in vivo, and that insulin-stimulated S22 phosphorylation of RXRα is dampened by diet-induced obesity. We used Rxra knockout cells re-expressing wild type (WT) or S22A non-phosphorylatable forms of RXRα to further characterize the role of S22 in brown adipocytes. Knockout of Rxra in brown pre-adipocytes resulted in decreased lipid accumulation and adipogenic gene expression during differentiation, and re-expression of RxraWT alleviated these effects. However, we observed no significant difference in cells re-expressing the RxraS22A mutant as compared with the cells re-expressing RxraWT. Furthermore, comparison of gene expression during adipogenesis in the WT and S22A re-expressing cells by RNA sequencing revealed similar transcriptomic profiles. Thus, our data propose a dispensable role for RXRα S22 phosphorylation in adipogenesis and transcription in differentiating brown pre-adipocytes.
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