Sympathetic neuropeptide Y protects from obesity by sustaining thermogenic fat.

ABSTRACT: Human mutations in neuropeptide Y (NPY) have been linked to high body mass index but not altered dietary patterns¹. Here we uncover the mechanism by which NPY in sympathetic neurons^2,3 protects from obesity. Imaging of cleared mouse brown and white adipose tissue (BAT and WAT, respectively) established that NPY⁺ sympathetic axons are a smaller subset that mostly maps to the perivasculature; analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing datasets identified mural cells as the main NPY-responsive cells in adipose tissues. We show that NPY sustains the proliferation of mural cells, which are a source of thermogenic adipocytes in both BAT and WAT^4-6. We found that diet-induced obesity leads to neuropathy of NPY⁺ axons and concomitant depletion of

SUBMITTER: Zhu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11446830 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature