Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common prelude to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. Defining the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of NAFLD has been hampered by a lack of animal models that closely recapitulate the severe end of the disease spectrum in humans, including bridging hepatic fibrosis. Here we demonstrate that a novel experimental model employing thermoneutral housing, as opposed to standard housing, resulted in lower stress-driven production of corticosterone, augmented mouse proinflammatory immune responses and markedly exacerbated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD pathogenesis. Disease exacerbation at thermoneutrality was conserved across multiple mouse strains and was associated with augmented intestinal permeability, an altered microbiome and activation of inflammatory pathways that are associated with the disease in humans. Depletion of Gram-negative microbiota, hematopoietic cell deletion of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and inactivation of the IL-17 axis resulted in altered immune responsiveness and protection from thermoneutral-housing-driven NAFLD amplification. Finally, female mice, typically resistant to HFD-induced obesity and NAFLD, develop full disease characteristics at thermoneutrality. Thus, thermoneutral housing provides a sex-independent model of exacerbated NAFLD in mice and represents a novel approach for interrogation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nm.4346.

Overconsumption of high-fat diet (HFD) and sugar-sweetened beverages are risk factors for developing obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease. Here we have dissected mechanisms underlying this association using mice fed either chow or HFD with or without fructose- or glucose-supplemented water. In chow-fed mice, there was no major physiological difference between fructose and glucose supplementation. On the other hand, mice on HFD supplemented with fructose developed more pronounced obesity, glucose intolerance, and hepatomegaly as compared to glucose-supplemented HFD mice, despite similar caloric intake. Fructose and glucose supplementation also had distinct effects on expression of the lipogenic transcription factors ChREBP and SREBP1c. While both sugars increased ChREBP-β, fructose supplementation uniquely increased SREBP1c and downstream fatty acid synthesis genes, resulting in reduced liver insulin signaling. In contrast, glucose enhanced total ChREBP expression and triglyceride synthesis but was associated with improved hepatic insulin signaling. Metabolomic and RNA sequence analysis confirmed dichotomous effects of fructose and glucose supplementation on liver metabolism in spite of inducing similar hepatic lipid accumulation. Ketohexokinase, the first enzyme of fructose metabolism, was increased in fructose-fed mice and in obese humans with steatohepatitis. Knockdown of ketohexokinase in liver improved hepatic steatosis and glucose tolerance in fructose-supplemented mice. Thus, fructose is a component of dietary sugar that is distinctively associated with poor metabolic outcomes, whereas increased glucose intake may be protective.

Purpose: To determine the ocular consequences of a dominant-negative mutation in the p85α subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PIK3R1) using a knock-in mouse model of SHORT syndrome, a syndrome associated with short stature, lipodystrophy, diabetes, and Rieger anomaly in humans. Methods: We investigated knock-in mice heterozygous for the SHORT syndrome mutation changing arginine 649 to tryptophan in p85α (PIK3R1) using physical examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), tonometry, and histopathologic sections from paraffin-embedded eyes, and compared the findings to similar investigations in two human subjects with SHORT syndrome heterozygous for the same mutation. Results: While overall eye development was normal with clear cornea and lens, normal anterior chamber volume, normal intraocular pressure, and no changes in the retinal structure, OCT images of the knock-in mouse eyes revealed a significant decrease in thickness and width of the iris resulting in increased pupil area and irregularity of shape. Both human subjects had Rieger anomaly with similar defects including thin irides and irregular pupils, as well as a prominent ring of Schwalbe, goniosynechiae, early cataract formation, and glaucoma. Although the two subjects had had diabetes for more than 30 years, there were no signs of diabetic retinopathy. Conclusions: A dominant-negative mutation in the p85α regulatory subunit of PI3K affects development of the iris, and contributes to changes consistent with anterior segment dysgenesis in both humans and mice.

Insulin receptors (IRs) on endothelial cells may have a role in the regulation of transport of circulating insulin to its target tissues; however, how this impacts on insulin action in vivo is unclear. Using mice with endothelial-specific inactivation of the IR gene (EndoIRKO), we find that in response to systemic insulin stimulation, loss of endothelial IRs caused delayed onset of insulin signaling in skeletal muscle, brown fat, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex but not in liver or olfactory bulb. At the level of the brain, the delay of insulin signaling was associated with decreased levels of hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin, leading to increased food intake and obesity accompanied with hyperinsulinemia and hyperleptinemia. The loss of endothelial IRs also resulted in a delay in the acute hypoglycemic effect of systemic insulin administration and impaired glucose tolerance. In high-fat diet-treated mice, knockout of the endothelial IRs accelerated development of systemic insulin resistance but not food intake and obesity. Thus, IRs on endothelial cells have an important role in transendothelial insulin delivery in vivo which differentially regulates the kinetics of insulin signaling and insulin action in peripheral target tissues and different brain regions. Loss of this function predisposes animals to systemic insulin resistance, overeating, and obesity.

Tbx15 is a member of the T-box gene family of mesodermal developmental genes. We have recently shown that Tbx15 plays a critical role in the formation and metabolic programming of glycolytic myofibers in skeletal muscle. Tbx15 is also differentially expressed among white adipose tissue (WAT) in different body depots. In the current study, using three independent methods, we show that even within a single WAT depot, high Tbx15 expression is restricted to a subset of preadipocytes and mature white adipocytes. Gene expression and metabolic profiling demonstrate that the Tbx15Hi preadipocyte and adipocyte subpopulations of cells are highly glycolytic, whereas Tbx15Low preadipocytes and adipocytes in the same depot are more oxidative and less glycolytic. Likewise, in humans, expression of TBX15 in subcutaneous and visceral WAT is positively correlated with markers of glycolytic metabolism and inversely correlated with obesity. Furthermore, overexpression of Tbx15 is sufficient to reduce oxidative and increase glycolytic metabolism in cultured adipocytes. Thus, Tbx15 differentially regulates oxidative and glycolytic metabolism within subpopulations of white adipocytes and preadipocytes. This leads to a functional heterogeneity of cellular metabolism within WAT that has potential impact in the understanding of human metabolic diseases.

White adipocytes are specialized for energy storage, whereas brown adipocytes are specialized for energy expenditure. Explicating this difference can help identify therapeutic targets for obesity. A common tool to assess metabolic differences between such cells is the Seahorse Extracellular Flux (XF) Analyzer, which measures oxygen consumption and media acidification in the presence of different substrates and perturbagens. Here, we integrate the Analyzer's metabolic profile from human white and brown adipocytes with a genome-scale metabolic model to predict flux differences across the metabolic map. Predictions matched experimental data for the metabolite 4-aminobutyrate, the protein ABAT, and the fluxes for glucose, glutamine, and palmitate. We also uncovered a difference in how adipocytes dispose of nitrogenous waste, with brown adipocytes secreting less ammonia and more urea than white adipocytes. Thus, the method and software we developed allow for broader metabolic phenotyping and provide a distinct approach to uncovering metabolic differences.

Despite a high degree of homology, insulin receptor (IR) and IGF-1 receptor (IGF1R) mediate distinct cellular and physiological functions. Here, we demonstrate how domain differences between IR and IGF1R contribute to the distinct functions of these receptors using chimeric and site-mutated receptors. Receptors with the intracellular domain of IGF1R show increased activation of Shc and Gab-1 and more potent regulation of genes involved in proliferation, corresponding to their higher mitogenic activity. Conversely, receptors with the intracellular domain of IR display higher IRS-1 phosphorylation, stronger regulation of genes in metabolic pathways and more dramatic glycolytic responses to hormonal stimulation. Strikingly, replacement of leucine973 in the juxtamembrane region of IR to phenylalanine, which is present in IGF1R, mimics many of these signalling and gene expression responses. Overall, we show that the distinct activities of the closely related IR and IGF1R are mediated by their intracellular juxtamembrane region and substrate binding to this region.

Cholesterol is important for normal brain function. The brain synthesizes its own cholesterol, presumably in astrocytes. We have previously shown that diabetes results in decreased brain cholesterol synthesis by a reduction in sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2)-regulated transcription. Here we show that coculture of control astrocytes with neurons enhances neurite outgrowth, and this is reduced with SREBP2 knockdown astrocytes. In vivo, mice with knockout of SREBP2 in astrocytes have impaired brain development and behavioral and motor defects. These mice also have altered energy balance, altered body composition, and a shift in metabolism toward carbohydrate oxidation driven by increased glucose oxidation by the brain. Thus, SREBP2-mediated cholesterol synthesis in astrocytes plays an important role in brain and neuronal development and function, and altered brain cholesterol synthesis may contribute to the interaction between metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and altered brain function.