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Protection against high-fat diet-induced obesity in Helz2-deficient male mice due to enhanced expression of hepatic leptin receptor.

Abstract
Obesity arises from impaired energy balance, which is centrally coordinated by leptin through activation of the long form of leptin receptor (Leprb). Obesity causes central leptin resistance. However, whether enhanced peripheral leptin sensitivity could overcome central leptin resistance remains obscure. A peripheral metabolic organ targeted by leptin is the liver, with low Leprb expression. We here show that mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and obese patients with hepatosteatosis exhibit increased expression of hepatic helicase with zinc finger 2, a transcriptional coactivator (Helz2), which functions as a transcriptional coregulator of several nuclear receptors, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ in vitro. To explore the physiological importance of Helz2, we generated Helz2-deficient mice and analyzed their metabolic phenotypes. Helz2-deficient mice showing hyperleptinemia associated with central leptin resistance were protected against HFD-induced obesity and had significantly up-regulated hepatic Leprb expression. Helz2 deficiency and adenovirus-mediated liver-specific exogenous Leprb overexpression in wild-type mice significantly stimulated hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase on HFD, whereas Helz2-deficient db/db mice lacking functional Leprb did not. Fatty acid-β oxidation was increased in Helz2-deficeint hepatocytes, and Helz2-deficient mice revealed increased oxygen consumption and decreased respiratory quotient in calorimetry analyses. The enhanced hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase energy-sensing pathway in Helz2-deficient mice ameliorated hyperlipidemia, hepatosteatosis, and insulin resistance by reducing lipogenic gene expression and stimulating lipid-burning gene expression in the liver. These findings together demonstrate that Helz2 deficiency ameliorates HFD-induced metabolic abnormalities by stimulating endogenous hepatic Leprb expression, despite central leptin resistance. Hepatic HELZ2 might be a novel target molecule for the treatment of obesity with hepatosteatosis.
AuthorsSatoshi Yoshino, Tetsurou Satoh, Masanobu Yamada, Koshi Hashimoto, Takuya Tomaru, Akiko Katano-Toki, Satoru Kakizaki, Shuichi Okada, Hiroyuki Shimizu, Atsushi Ozawa, Takafumi Tuchiya, Hayato Ikota, Yoichi Nakazato, Munemasa Mori, Takashi Matozaki, Tsutomu Sasaki, Tadahiro Kitamura, Masatomo Mori
JournalEndocrinology (Endocrinology) Vol. 155 Issue 9 Pg. 3459-72 (Sep 2014) ISSN: 1945-7170 [Electronic] United States
PMID25004093 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
Chemical References
  • Insulin
  • Leptin
  • Receptors, Leptin
  • AMP-Activated Protein Kinases
  • HELZ protein, mouse
  • RNA Helicases
Topics
  • AMP-Activated Protein Kinases (genetics, metabolism)
  • Animals
  • Diet, High-Fat (adverse effects)
  • Fatty Liver (enzymology)
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Insulin (metabolism)
  • Leptin (metabolism)
  • Liver (metabolism)
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Obesity (enzymology, genetics, metabolism, prevention & control)
  • RNA Helicases (deficiency, genetics)
  • Receptors, Leptin (genetics, metabolism)
  • Up-Regulation

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