Endocrinology
Abstract
Research Article
Authors
Kathrin Maedler, Pavel Sergeev, Frédéric Ris, José Oberholzer, Helen I. Joller-Jemelka, Giatgen A. Spinas, Nurit Kaiser, Philippe A. Halban, Marc Y. Donath
Abstract
Research Article
Authors
Shoshana Yakar, Clifford J. Rosen, Wesley G. Beamer, Cheryl L. Ackert-Bicknell, Yiping Wu, Jun-Li Liu, Guck T. Ooi, Jennifer Setser, Jan Frystyk, Yves R. Boisclair, Derek LeRoith
Abstract
Research Article
Authors
Timothy G. Butler, Jeff Schwartz, I. Caroline McMillen
Abstract
Research Article
Authors
Lara B. Pupim, Paul J. Flakoll, John R. Brouillette, Deanna K. Levenhagen, Raymond M. Hakim, T. Alp Ikizler
Abstract
Research Article
Authors
Norma Fox, Greg Priestley, Thalia Papayannopoulou, Kenneth Kaushansky
Abstract
Obesity is the result of an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Using high-density DNA microarrays and Northern analyses, we demonstrated that the activation of a nutrient-sensing pathway, the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP), rapidly decreased the expression of a cluster of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes involved in skeletal muscle oxidative phosphorylation. Conversely, the expression of uncoupling protein-1 and of the same mitochondrial genes was increased in brown adipose tissue. Most important, these transcriptional changes were accompanied by a marked decrease in whole-body energy expenditure. Short-term overfeeding replicated this transcriptional pattern, suggesting that this adaptation to nutrient abundance occurs under physiological conditions. Thus, the activation of the HBP by nutrients represents a biochemical link between nutrient availability, mitochondrial proteins, and energy expenditure, and it is likely to play an important role in the regulation of energy balance.
Authors
Silvana Obici, Jiali Wang, Rahena Chowdury, Zhaohui Feng, Uma Siddhanta, Kimyata Morgan, Luciano Rossetti
Abstract
Growth hormone secretagogues (GHSs) stimulate GH secretion and food intake. GHS receptor (GHS-R) mRNA has been identified mainly in the arcuate nucleus (Arc) and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and in the pituitary. Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand for GHS-R, has recently been purified from rat stomach. Although ghrelin is also expressed in the hypothalamus, the physiological significance of the ghrelin/GHS-R system is still unknown. We have created transgenic (Tg) rats expressing an antisense GHS-R mRNA under the control of the promoter for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), thus selectively attenuating GHS-R protein expression in the Arc. Tg rats had lower body weight and less adipose tissue than did control rats. Daily food intake was reduced, and the stimulatory effect of GHS treatment on feeding was abolished in Tg rats. GH secretion and plasma insulin-like growth factor-I levels were reduced in female Tg rats. These results suggest that GHS-R in the Arc is involved in the regulation of GH secretion, food intake, and adiposity.
Authors
Yujin Shuto, Tamotsu Shibasaki, Asuka Otagiri, Hideki Kuriyama, Hisayuki Ohata, Hideki Tamura, Jun Kamegai, Hitoshi Sugihara, Shinichi Oikawa, Ichiji Wakabayashi
Abstract
Human thyrotropin (TSH), luteotropin (LH), follitropin (FSH), and chorionic gonadotropin are members of the heterodimeric glycoprotein hormone family. The common α subunit forms noncovalent heterodimers with different β subunits. Two novel human glycoprotein hormonelike genes, α2 (A2) and β5 (B5), recently have been identified. Using a yeast two-hybrid assay, the two subunits were found as potential heterodimerization partners. Immunological analyses confirmed the heterodimerization of A2 and B5 in transfected cells and their colocalization in the anterior pituitary. Recombinant A2/B5 heterodimeric glycoproteins, purified using cation exchange and size fractionation chromatography, activated human TSH receptors, but not LH and FSH receptors, and showed high affinity to TSH receptors in a radioligand receptor assay. The heterodimer also stimulated cAMP production and thymidine incorporation by cultured thyroid cells and increased serum thyroxine levels in TSH-suppressed rats in vivo. This new heterodimeric glycoprotein hormone was named as thyrostimulin based on its thyroid-stimulating activity. The expression of thyrostimulin in the anterior pituitary known to express TSH receptors suggested a paracrine mechanism. The present discovery of a new ligand based on genomic approaches could facilitate the understanding of the physiological roles of extra-thyroid TSH receptor systems and the structural-functional basis of receptor signaling by related glycoprotein hormones.
Authors
Koji Nakabayashi, Hirotaka Matsumi, Alka Bhalla, Jeehyeon Bae, Sietse Mosselman, Sheau Yu Hsu, Aaron J.W. Hsueh
Abstract
Adiponectin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, was recently shown to have potential therapeutic applications in diabetes and obesity because of its influence on glucose and lipid metabolism. We found that brown fat in normal human bone marrow contains this protein and used marrow-derived preadipocyte lines and long-term cultures to explore potential roles in hematopoiesis. Recombinant adiponectin blocked fat cell formation in long-term bone marrow cultures and inhibited the differentiation of cloned stromal preadipocytes. Adiponectin also caused elevated expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) by these stromal cells and induced release of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). The COX-2 inhibitor Dup-697 prevented the inhibitory action of adiponectin on preadipocyte differentiation, suggesting involvement of stromal cell–derived prostanoids. Furthermore, adiponectin failed to block fat cell generation when bone marrow cells were derived from B6,129SPtgs2tm1Jed (COX-2+/–) mice. These observations show that preadipocytes represent direct targets for adiponectin action, establishing a paracrine negative feedback loop for fat regulation. They also link adiponectin to the COX-2–dependent PGs that are critical in this process.
Authors
Takafumi Yokota, C.S. Reddy Meka, Kay L. Medina, Hideya Igarashi, Phillip C. Comp, Masahiko Takahashi, Makoto Nishida, Kenji Oritani, Jun-ichiro Miyagawa, Tohru Funahashi, Yoshiaki Tomiyama, Yuji Matsuzawa, Paul W. Kincade
Abstract
G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a key role in regulating bone remodeling. Whether GPCRs exert anabolic or catabolic osseous effects may be determined by the rate of receptor desensitization in osteoblasts. Receptor desensitization is largely mediated by direct phosphorylation of GPCR proteins by a family of enzymes termed GPCR kinases (GRKs). We have selectively manipulated GRK activity in osteoblasts in vitro and in vivo by overexpressing a GRK inhibitor. We found that expression of a GRK inhibitor enhanced parathyroid hormone (PTH)/PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) receptor-stimulated cAMP generation and inhibited agonist-induced phosphorylation of this receptor in cell culture systems, consistent with attenuation of receptor desensitization. To determine the effect of GRK inhibition on bone formation in vivo, we targeted the expression of a GRK inhibitor to mature osteoblasts using the mouse osteocalcin gene 2 (OG2) promoter. Transgenic mice demonstrated enhanced bone remodeling as well as enhanced urinary excretion of the osteoclastic activity marker dexoypyridinoline. Both osteoprotegrin and OPG ligand mRNA levels were altered in calvaria of transgenic mice in a pattern that would promote osteoclast activation. The predominant effect of the transgene, however, was anabolic, as evidenced by an increase in bone density and trabecular bone volume in the transgenic mice compared with nontransgenic littermate controls.
Authors
Robert F. Spurney, Patrick J. Flannery, Sanford C. Garner, Krairerk Athirakul, Shiguang Liu, Farshid Guilak, L. Darryl Quarles
Copyright © 2018 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)