The glucocorticoid receptor in brown adipocytes is dispensable for control of energy homeostasis

Aberrant activity of the glucocorticoid (GC)/glucocorticoid receptor (GR) endocrine system has been linked to obesity‐related metabolic dysfunction. Traditionally, the GC/GR axis has been believed to play a crucial role in adipose tissue formation and function in both, white (WAT) and brown adipose...

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Veröffentlicht in:EMBO reports 2019-11, Vol.20 (11), p.e48552-n/a
Hauptverfasser: Glantschnig, Christina, Mattijssen, Frits, Vogl, Elena Sophie, Ali Khan, Asrar, Rios Garcia, Marcos, Fischer, Katrin, Müller, Timo, Uhlenhaut, Henriette, Nawroth, Peter, Scheideler, Marcel, Rose, Adam J, Pellegata, Natalia, Herzig, Stephan
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Aberrant activity of the glucocorticoid (GC)/glucocorticoid receptor (GR) endocrine system has been linked to obesity‐related metabolic dysfunction. Traditionally, the GC/GR axis has been believed to play a crucial role in adipose tissue formation and function in both, white (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). While recent studies have challenged this notion for WAT, the contribution of GC/GR signaling to BAT‐dependent energy homeostasis remained unknown. Here, we have generated and characterized a BAT‐specific GR‐knockout mouse (GR BATKO ), for the first time allowing to genetically interrogate the metabolic impact of BAT‐GR. The HPA axis in GR BATKO mice was intact, as was the ability of mice to adapt to cold. BAT‐GR was dispensable for the adaptation to fasting–feeding cycles and the development of diet‐induced obesity. In obesity, glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and food intake remained unchanged, aligning with the absence of changes in thermogenic gene expression. Together, we demonstrate that the GR in UCP1‐positive BAT adipocytes plays a negligible role in systemic metabolism and BAT function, thereby opposing a long‐standing paradigm in the field. Synopsis This study shows that the glucocorticoid receptor in brown adipocytes plays a negligible role in systemic metabolism and BAT function, thereby opposing a long‐standing paradigm in the field. UCP1‐GR knockout mice do not suffer from impaired cold tolerance. BAT GR in brown adipocytes is dispensable for the adaptation to fasting‐feeding cycles. GR loss in brown adipocytes is not linked to body weight or metabolic alterations on high‐fat diet. Graphical Abstract This study shows that the glucocorticoid receptor in brown adipocytes plays a negligible role in systemic metabolism and BAT function, thereby opposing a long‐standing paradigm in the field.
ISSN:1469-221X
1469-3178
1469-3178
DOI:10.15252/embr.201948552