The Circadian Protein Nocturnin Regulates Metabolic Adaptation in Brown Adipose Tissue
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ABSTRACT: Fine-tuning of transcriptional responses can be critical for long-term outcomes in response to an environmental challenge. The circadian protein Nocturnin belongs to a family of proteins that include exonucleases, endonucleases and phosphatases and is most closely related to the CCR4 family of deadenylases that regulate the cellular transcriptome via control of polyA tail length of RNA transcripts. In this study, we investigate the role of Nocturnin in regulating the transcriptional response and downstream metabolic adaptations during cold exposure in brown adipose tissue. We find that Nocturnin exhibits dual localization within the cytosol and mitochondria, and loss of Nocturnin causes changes in expression of networks of mRNAs involved in mitochondrial function. Furthermore, Nocturnin-/- animals display significantly elevated levels of TCA cycle intermediates indicating that they have distinct metabolic adaptations during a prolonged cold exposure. We conclude that cold-induced stimulation of Nocturnin levels can regulate long-term metabolic adaptations to environmental challenges.
Project description:Sustained responses to transient stimuli are important for animals to survive and reproduce in their environment. However, the mechanisms that underlie altered responses to temporary shifts in abiotic factors, such as temperature, remain poorly understood. Here, we find that transient cold exposure leads to sustained transcriptional and metabolic adaptations in brown adipose tissue, which are critical for an improved thermogenic response to secondary cold encounter. Primary thermogenic challenge triggers the delayed induction of a lipid biosynthesis program even after cessation of the original stimulus, which protects from subsequent exposures. By combining single-nucleus RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and immunofluorescence imaging, we discover that this lipogenic response is carried out by a distinct subpopulation of brown adipocytes that is localized along the perimeter of classical Ucp1high brown adipocytes. The protective effect of the lipogenic program is associated with the production of acyl carnitines, and supplementation of acyl carnitines recapitulates improved secondary cold responses even in the absence of lipogenesis. Overall, our data highlight the importance of heterogenous brown adipocyte populations for “thermogenic memory” in the setting of repeated cold exposure, which may have implications for therapeutic efforts leveraging short-term thermogenesis to counteract the hypercaloric state of obesity.
Project description:Cold exposure is a selective environmental stress that elicits a rapid metabolic shift to maintain energy homeostasis. In response to cold exposure, the liver rewires the metabolic state shifting from glucose to lipid catabolism. By probing the liver lipids in cold exposure, we observed that the lysosomal bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (BMP) lipids were rapidly increased during cold exposure. BMP lipid changes occurred independently of lysosomal abundance but were dependent on the lysosomal transcriptional regulator transcription factor EB (TFEB). Knockdown of TFEB in hepatocytes decreased BMP lipid levels and led to cold intolerance in mice. We assessed TFEB binding sites of lysosomal genes and determined that the phospholipase Pla2g15 regulates BMP lipid catabolism. Knockdown of Pla2g15 in mice increased BMP lipid levels, ablated the cold-induced rise, and improved cold tolerance. Knockout of Pla2g15 in mice and hepatocytes led to increased BMP lipid levels, that were decreased with re-expression of Pla2g15. Mutation of the catalytic site of Pla2g15 ablated the BMP lipid breakdown. Together, our studies uncover TFEB regulation of BMP lipids through Pla2g15 catabolism.
Project description:Leuconostoc lactis is found in vegetables, fruits, and meat and is used by the food industry in the preparation of dairy products, wines and sugars. We have previously demonstrated, that the dextransucrase (DsrLL) of Lc. lactis AV1n produces a high molecular weight dextran from sucrose, indicating its potential use as a dextran forming starter culture. We have also shown that this bacterium was able to produce 10-fold higher levels of dextran at 20 °C than at 37 °C, at the former temperature accompanied by an increase of dsrLL gene expression. However, the general physiological response of Lc. lactis AV1n to cold temperature in the presence of sucrose, leading to an increased production of dextran has not been yet investigated. Therefore, we have here used a quantitative proteomics approach to investigate the cold temperature-induced changes in the proteomic profile of this strain in comparison to its proteomic response at 37 °C. In total, 337 proteins were found to be differentially expressed at the applied significance criteria (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05 and with a fold change ≥ 1.5 or ≤ 0.67) with 204 proteins overexpressed, among which 13% were involved in protein as well as cell wall, and envelope component biosynthesis including DsrLL as RNA chaperones. Proteins implicated in cold stress were expressed at high level at 20 °C and possibly play a role in the upregulation of DsrLL allowing efficient synthesis of the protein essential for its adaptation to cold. Post-transcriptional regulation of DsrLL expression also seems to take place through the interplay of exonucleases and endonucleases overexpressed at 20 °C, that would influence the half-life of the dsrLL transcript. Furthermore, the mechanism of cold resistance of Lc. lactis AV1n seems to be also based on energy saving through a decrease in growth rate mediated by a decrease in carbohydrate metabolism and its orientation towards the production pathways for storage molecules. Thus, this better understanding of the responses to low temperature and mechanisms for environmental adaptation of Lc. lactis could be exploited for industrial use of strains belonging to this species.
Project description:Behavioral adaptations to environmental threats are crucial for survival and necessitate rapid deployment of energy reserves. The amygdala coordinates behavioral adaptations to threats, but little is known about its involvement in underpinning metabolic adaptations. Here, we show that acute stress activates medial amygdala (MeA) neurons that innervate the ventromedial hypothalamus (MeAVMH neurons), which precipitates hyperglycemia and hypophagia. The glycemic actions of MeAVMH neurons occur independent of adrenal or pancreatic glucoregulatory hormones. Instead, using whole-body virus tracing, we identify a polysynaptic connection from MeA to the liver, which promotes the rapid synthesis of glucose by hepatic gluconeogenesis. Repeated stress exposure disrupts MeA control of blood glucose, resulting in diabetes-like dysregulation of glucose homeostasis. Our findings reveal a novel amygdala-liver axis that regulates rapid glycemic adaptations to stress and links recurrent stress to metabolic dysfunction.
Project description:The first and rate-limiting step in eukaryotic mRNA decay is the shortening of the poly(A) tail catalyzed by a family of enzymes known as deadenylases. In humans, several deadenylases have been recognized so far, yet it is not clear what the advantage is to have many enzymes catalyzing the same reaction. It is hypothesized that specific deadenylases may target unique subsets of mRNAs, or multiple deadenylases can act on the same mRNA, with discrete but overlapping functions. To understand the biological significance of the diversity of these enzymes we silenced the expression of several deadenylases, including PARN, NOC, CNOT6, CNOT7 and CNOT8, in human cells of cancer origin (Hep2; epithelial carcinoma cells), and analyze the impact on gene expression with microarrays.
Project description:The first and rate-limiting step in eukaryotic mRNA decay is the shortening of the poly(A) tail catalyzed by a family of enzymes known as deadenylases. In humans, several deadenylases have been recognized so far, yet it is not clear what the advantage is to have many enzymes catalyzing the same reaction. It is hypothesized that specific deadenylases may target unique subsets of mRNAs, or multiple deadenylases can act on the same mRNA, with discrete but overlapping functions. To understand the biological significance of the diversity of these enzymes we silenced the expression of several deadenylases, including PARN, NOC, CNOT6, CNOT6L, and CNOT7, in human cells of cancer origin (NCI-H520; squamous lung cancer), and analyze the impact on gene expression with microarrays.
Project description:Obesity and type-2 diabetes are associated with tissue-inflammation and metabolic defects in fat depots. Foxp3+regulatory T(Treg) cells mediate T-cell tolerance, thereby controlling tissue inflammation. However, the molecular underpinnings how environmental stimuli interlink T-cell tolerance with adipose tissue function remain largely unknown. Here, we report that cold exposure or beta3-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) stimulation induces T-cell tolerance in vitro and in murine and humanized models. Tolerance induction was verified by CD4+T-cell-proteomes revealing higher protein expression of Foxp3 regulatory networks. Specifically, Ragulator-interacting protein C17orf59, which limits mTORC1 activity, was upregulated by either ADRB3-stimulation or cold-exposure, and therefore might enhance Treg induction. By loss and gain-of-function studies, including Treg depletion and transfers in vivo, we demonstrated that a T-cell-specific Stat6/Pten axis links cold-exposure or ADRB3 stimulation with Foxp3+Treg induction and adipose tissue function. Our findings open new avenues in understanding tissue-specific T-cell tolerance and the design of precision concepts toward personalized immune-metabolic health.
Project description:Regulatory T (Treg) cells are critical determinants of both immune responses and metabolic control. Here we show that systemic ablation of Treg cells compromised the adaptation of whole-body energy expenditure to cold exposure, correlating with impairment in thermogenic marker gene expression and massive invasion of pro-inflammatory macrophages in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Indeed, BAT harbored a unique sub-set of Treg cells characterized by a unique gene signature. As these Treg cells respond to BAT activation upon cold exposure, this study defines a BAT-specific Treg sub-set with direct implications for the regulation of energy homeostasis in response to environmental stress.
Project description:Mammals adaptively regulate energy metabolism in response to environmental changes such as starvation and cold circumstances. Thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip), known as a redox regulator, serves as a nutrient sensor regulating energy homeostasis. Txnip is essential for mice to adapt to starvation, but its role in adapting to cold circumstances remains unclear. Here, we identified Txnip as a pivotal factor for maintaining non-shivering thermogenesis in mice. Txnip protein levels in brown adipose tissue (BAT) were upregulated by the acute cold exposure. Txnip-deficient (Txnip-/-) mice acclimated to thermoneutrality (30°C) exhibited significant BAT enlargement and triglyceride accumulation with downregulation of BAT signature and metabolic gene expression. Upon acute cold exposure (5°C), Txnip-/- mice showed a rapid decline in BAT surface temperatures with the failure of increasing metabolic respiration, developing lethal hypothermia. The BAT dysfunction and cold susceptibility in Txnip-/- mice were corrected by acclimation to 16°C, protecting the mice from life-threatening hypothermia. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis using dissected BAT revealed that despite preserving glycolysis, the BAT of Txnip-/- mice failed to activate the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids and fatty acids in response to acute cold stress. These findings illustrate that Txnip is required for maintaining basal BAT function and ensuring cold-induced thermogenesis.
Project description:Mammals adaptively regulate energy metabolism in response to environmental changes such as starvation and cold circumstances. Thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip), known as a redox regulator, serves as a nutrient sensor regulating energy homeostasis. Txnip is essential for mice to adapt to starvation, but its role in adapting to cold circumstances remains unclear. Here, we identified Txnip as a pivotal factor for maintaining non-shivering thermogenesis in mice. Txnip protein levels in brown adipose tissue (BAT) were upregulated by the acute cold exposure. Txnip-deficient (Txnip-/-) mice acclimated to thermoneutrality (30°C) exhibited significant BAT enlargement and triglyceride accumulation with downregulation of BAT signature and metabolic gene expression. Upon acute cold exposure (5°C), Txnip-/- mice showed a rapid decline in BAT surface temperatures with the failure of increasing metabolic respiration, developing lethal hypothermia. The BAT dysfunction and cold susceptibility in Txnip-/- mice were corrected by acclimation to 16°C, protecting the mice from life-threatening hypothermia. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis using dissected BAT revealed that despite preserving glycolysis, the BAT of Txnip-/- mice failed to activate the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids and fatty acids in response to acute cold stress. These findings illustrate that Txnip is required for maintaining basal BAT function and ensuring cold-induced thermogenesis.