Melanocortin-4 receptor mRNA is expressed in sympathetic nervous system outflow neurons to white adipose tissue

2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (5) ◽  
pp. R1467-R1476 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kay Song ◽  
Raven M. Jackson ◽  
Ruth B. S. Harris ◽  
Denis Richard ◽  
Timothy J. Bartness

Energy balance results from the coordination of multiple pathways affecting energy expenditure and food intake. Candidate neuropeptides involved in energy balance are the melanocortins. Several species, including Siberian hamsters studied here, decrease and increase food intake in response to stimulation and blockade of the melanocortin 4-receptor (MC4-R). In addition, central application of the MC3/4-R agonist melanotan-II decreases body fat (increases lipolysis) beyond that accounted for by its ability to decrease food intake. Because an increase in the sympathetic nervous system drive to white adipose tissue (WAT) is the principal initiator of lipolysis, we tested whether the sympathetic outflow circuitry from brain to WAT contained MC4-R mRNA expressing cells. This was accomplished by labeling the sympathetic outflow to inguinal WAT using the pseudorabies virus (PRV), a transneuronal retrograde viral tract tracer, and then processing the brain for colocalization of PRV immunoreactivity with MC4-R mRNA, the latter assessed by in situ hybridization. MC4-R mRNA was impressively colocalized in PRV-labeled cells (approximately greater than 60%) in many brain areas across the neuroaxis, including those typically implicated in lipid mobilization (e.g., hypothalamic paraventricular, suprachiasmatic, arcuate and dorsomedial nuclei, lateral hypothalamic area), as well as those not traditionally identified with lipolysis (e.g., preoptic area, subzona incerta of the lateral hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray, solitary nucleus). These data provide compelling neuroanatomical evidence that could underlie a direct central modulation of the sympathetic outflow to WAT by the melanocortins through the MC4-Rs resulting in changes in lipid mobilization and adiposity.

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (1) ◽  
pp. R291-R299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Bamshad ◽  
Victor T. Aoki ◽  
M. Gregory Adkison ◽  
Wade S. Warren ◽  
Timothy J. Bartness

White adipose tissue (WAT) is innervated by postganglionic sympathetic nervous system (SNS) neurons, suggesting that lipid mobilization could be regulated by the SNS [T. G. Youngstrom and T. J. Bartness. Am. J. Physiol. 268 ( Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 37): R744–R751, 1995]. A viral transsynaptic retrograde tract tracer, the pseudorabies virus (PRV), was used to identify the origins of the SNS outflow from the brain to WAT neuroanatomically. PRV was injected into epididymal or inguinal WAT (EWAT and IWAT, respectively) of Siberian hamsters and IWAT of rats. PRV-infected neurons were visualized by immunocytochemistry and found in the spinal cord, brain stem (medulla, nucleus of the solitary tract, caudal raphe nucleus, C1 and A5 regions), midbrain (central gray), and several areas within the forebrain. The general pattern of infection of WAT in both species was more similar than different and resembled that seen after PRV injections into the adrenal medulla in rats (A. M. Strack, W. B. Sawyer, J. H. Hughes, K. B. Platt, and A. D. Loewy. Brain Res. 491: 156–162, 1989). EWAT versus IWAT injected hamsters had relatively less labeling in the suprachiasmatic, dorsomedial, and arcuate nuclei. Overall, it appeared that the SNS innervation of WAT originates from the general SNS outflow of the central nervous system and therefore may play a significant role in lipid mobilization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minji Kim ◽  
Tsuyoshi Goto ◽  
Rina Yu ◽  
Kunitoshi Uchida ◽  
Makoto Tominaga ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-512
Author(s):  
Marisa Puerta ◽  
César Venero ◽  
Carmen Castro ◽  
María Abelenda

Puerta M, Venero C, Castro C, Abelenda M. Progesterone does not alter sympathetic activity in tissues involved in energy balance. Eur J Endocrinol 1996;134:508–12. ISSN 0804–4643 Female rats acclimated to thermoneutrality to avoid cold influences received progesterone by means of subcutaneous implants. They increased their food intake and body weight above the values recorded in control animals. None the less, despite the enhanced food intake, no sign of activation of the sympathetic nervous system was observed, as judged by the unaltered noradrenaline content, half-life and turnover rate in brown adipose tissue, pancreas and heart. This indicates that progesterone increases food intake but prevents non-energy-conservation processes regulated by the sympathetic nervous system from taking place. Thus, it facilitates in two different ways the building up of energy stores. Because overfeeding induced by palatable diets increases the sympathetic tone to the organs studied, it is suggested that the central mechanisms regulating energy balance are probably influenced in a different manner by progesterone than by the sensory properties of palatable diets. M Puerta, Departamento de Biología Animal II (Fisiología Animal), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain


Metabolism ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 1473-1485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danúbia Frasson ◽  
Renata Polessi Boschini ◽  
Valéria Ernestânia Chaves ◽  
Maria Emília Soares Martins dos Santos ◽  
Sílvia de Paula Gomes ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 318 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 34-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Bartness ◽  
Y.B. Shrestha ◽  
C.H. Vaughan ◽  
G.J. Schwartz ◽  
C.K. Song

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (5) ◽  
pp. R1488-R1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy G. Youngstrom ◽  
Timothy J. Bartness

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) drive on white adipose tissue (WAT) was varied to test its effects on fat cell number (FCN) under conditions in which lipolysis would be minimized and therefore partially separable from SNS trophic effects. The inguinal subcutaneous WAT (IWAT) pad of Siberian hamsters was chosen because 1) it is innervated by the SNS, 2) short day (SD) exposure increases its SNS drive (∼250%) without proportionately increasing lipolysis, and 3) surgical denervation eliminates its SNS innervation. IWAT was either unilaterally surgically or sham denervated, while the contralateral pad was left intact. In long day- or SD-exposed hamsters (11 wk), IWAT denervation decreased norepinephrine content (∼80%) and increased fat pad mass (∼200%) and FCN (∼250 and ∼180%, respectively) compared with the contralateral intact pads, but did not affect fat cell size (FCS). The denervation-induced increased FCN in SDs occurred despite naturally occurring decreased food intake. SDs decreased IWAT FCS regardless of the surgical treatment. These results support an important role of WAT SNS innervation in the control of FCN in vivo.


1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 711-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mads Tang-Christensen ◽  
Peter J. Havel ◽  
Rebecca R. Jacobs ◽  
Philip J. Larsen ◽  
Judy L. Cameron

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document