CNS control of WAT browning

CNS control of WAT browning

CNS control of WAT browning (#40)

Tony Tiganis ¹

Metabolic Disease & Obesity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia

The primary task of white adipose tissue (WAT) is the storage of lipids. However, ‘beige’ adipocytes also exist in WAT. Beige adipocytes burn fat and dissipate the energy as heat, but their abundance is diminished in obesity. Stimulating beige adipocyte development, or WAT browning, increases energy expenditure and holds potential for combating metabolic disease and obesity. Here we report that insulin and leptin act together on hypothalamic neurons to promote WAT browning and weight loss. Deletion of the phosphatases PTP1B and TCPTP enhanced insulin and leptin signaling in proopiomelanocortin neurons and prevented diet-induced obesity by increasing WAT browning and energy expenditure. The co-infusion of insulin plus leptin into the CNS or the activation of proopiomelanocortin neurons also increased WAT browning and decreased adiposity. Our findings identify a homeostatic mechanism for coordinating the status of energy stores, as relayed by insulin and leptin, with the central control of WAT browning and energy homeostasis.

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Tiganis, T

Professor Tiganis' general research interest is in understanding the cellular signalling networks and tissue crosstalk in human disease. He was educated at The University of Melbourne and completed his PhD with Prof. Bruce E. Kemp, St Vincent's Institute, Melbourne, before pursuing post-doctoral training with Prof. Nicholas K. Tonks, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. He established an independent laboratory at Monash University in 2000. He is a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia L3 Investigator, an Associate Editor for Science Advances and the Editor-in-Chief for Molecular & Cellular Biology. Professor Tiganis leads the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute Metabolism, Diabetes and Obesity Program. His laboratory takes an integrative approach that stems the fields of metabolism, immunology and cancer to address fundamental questions in biology and disease. A particular focus is the pathophysiological mechanisms contributing to obesity and type 2 diabetes and how these in turn drive the development of diseases such non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cancer.

CNS control of WAT browning (#40)

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