at the CNIO

Author: Sabio lab (Page 1 of 62)

An adipocyte MKK3-p38β axis preserves insulin responsiveness in mice and is reciprocally altered in human obesity

Edgar Bernardo, Nuria Matesanz, Jorge-Luis Torres, Alba C. Arcones, Juan Ignacio Jiménez-Loygorri, Alfonso Mora, Leticia Herrera-Melle, Luis Leiva-Vega, Maria Elena Rodriguez, Lourdes Hernández-Cosido, Marta León, Paula Yong González, Teresa Durán, Tamara Parracho, Francisca Mulero, Rubén Nogueiras, J Simon C Arthur, Angel R Nebreda, Roger J Davis, Miguel Marcos & Guadalupe Sabio.

Obesity is a major risk factor for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Adipocyte stress responses can either promote metabolic dysfunction or preserve insulin action, but the contribution of the p38 MAPK activator MKK3 to adipose tissue physiology remains poorly understood.

Detection of glucose by PET-CT (Image: Edgar Bernardo/CNIO).

Here, we show that adipose MKK3 expression increases early during high-fat feeding and is also elevated in human obesity. In human visceral adipose tissue, MKK3 expression was positively associated with body mass index and leptin and inversely associated with HbA1c in unadjusted analyses. Using germline, Fabp4-Cre, and Adipo-Cre Mkk3-deficient mice, together with p38β-deficient mice and primary adipocytes, we found that loss of adipocyte MKK3 impairs insulin responsiveness. Adipo-Cre;Mkk3fl/fl (AdipoMkk3) mice displayed reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake selectively in subcutaneous white adipose tissue despite unchanged body composition and basal brown adipose tissue activity. Mechanistically, MKK3 or p38β deficiency increased p70S6K activity and inhibitory IRS1 Ser307 phosphorylation, reduced GLUT4 translocation and Akt activation, and these defects were partially rescued by rapamycin or the selective p70S6K inhibitor PF-4708671.

Together, these findings identify an adipocyte MKK3-p38β-p70S6K axis that helps preserve insulin signaling during nutritional stress.

A hypothalamus-liver-skeletal muscle axis controlled by JNK1 and FGF21 mediates olanzapine-induced insulin resistance in an intraperitoneal treatment in male mice

Vitor Ferreira, Cintia Folgueira, Ana B Hitos, Ángela Montes San-Lorenzo, Ánxela Estévez-Salguero, Begoña Porteiro, Roger J Davis, Miguel López, Guadalupe Sabio, Patricia Rada & Ángela M Valverde.

Olanzapine (OLA), a widely prescribed second-generation antipsychotic, is associated with adverse metabolic effects. We recently showed that oral OLA treatment in male mice induces weight gain and hepatic steatosis, whereas intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration leads to weight loss due to higher hypothalamic OLA levels and activation of brown adipose tissue. Since clinical studies report insulin resistance in individuals receiving OLA, here we investigated the impact of OLA i.p. treatment on insulin sensitivity, focusing on the liver-skeletal muscle axis.

Treatment with olanzapine reduces mice weight.

Wild-type (WT) male mice were treated with OLA (10 mg/kg, i.p.) for 8 weeks or received a single intrahypothalamic injection (15 nmol). Glucose homeostasis parameters were assessed. Mechanistic studies were performed in vagotomized mice, mice lacking JNK in either the hypothalamus or liver, mice overexpressing hepatic FGF21, and PTP1B-deficient mice (PTP1B-KO).

OLA i.p. treatment in WT mice induced systemic insulin resistance, pyruvate intolerance, and reduced insulin signaling in liver and skeletal muscle. These effects were accompanied by increased hepatic JNK phosphorylation and IRS1 serine phosphorylation. A single intrahypothalamic OLA injection similarly impaired peripheral insulin action and activated hepatic JNK. Deletion of hypothalamic or hepatic JNK1, as well as vagotomy, prevented these defects. OLA reduced hepatic Fgf21 expression, an effect reversed by hypothalamic JNK1 deletion or vagotomy. Hepatic FGF21 overexpression prevented OLA-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, but not in liver. PTP1B-KO mice were protected from all OLA-induced metabolic impairments.

Although OLA i.p. treatment prevents weight gain, it decreases peripheral insulin sensitivity through a hypothalamus-liver axis driven by hypothalamic JNK1, which activates hepatic JNK via the vagus nerve, suppresses hepatic FGF21 and ultimately impairs insulin signaling in skeletal muscle. Importantly, the protection conferred by PTP1B deficiency against OLA-induced insulin resistance strongly suggests that targeting PTP1B might prevent metabolic comorbidities in patients under OLA treatment in a personalized manner.

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