The GPR120 agonist TUG-891 promotes metabolic health by stimulating mitochondrial respiration in brown fat
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation stimulates energy expenditure in human adults, which makes it an attractive target to combat obesity and related disorders. Recent studies demonstrated a role for G protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120) in BAT thermogenesis. Here, we investigated the therapeutic potential of GPR120 agonism and addressed GPR120-mediated signaling in BAT We found that activation of GPR120 by the selective agonist TUG-891 acutely increases fat oxidation and reduces body weight and fat mass in C57Bl/6J mice. These effects coincided with decreased brown adipocyte lipid content and increased nutrient uptake by BAT, confirming increased BAT activity. Consistent with these observations, GPR120 deficiency reduced expression of genes involved in nutrient handling in BAT Stimulation of brown adipocytes in vitro with TUG-891 acutely induced O2 consumption, through GPR120-dependent and GPR120-independent mechanisms. TUG-891 not only stimulated GPR120 signaling resulting in intracellular calcium release, mitochondrial depolarization, and mitochondrial fission, but also activated UCP1. Collectively, these data suggest that activation of brown adipocytes with the GPR120 agonist TUG-891 is a promising strategy to increase lipid combustion and reduce obesity.
Date Issued
2018-03-01
Date Acceptance
2017-12-22
Citation
EMBO Molecular Medicine, 2018, 10 (3)
ISSN
1757-4676
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
EMBO Molecular Medicine
Volume
10
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Identifier
PII: emmm.201708047
Grant Number
BB/J010316/1
BB/H020233/1
Subjects
Ca2+
GPR120
brown adipose tissue
lipid metabolism
mitochondria
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e8047
Date Publish Online
2018-01-17