UMMS Affiliation
Program in Molecular Medicine; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes; UMass Metabolic Network
Publication Date
2016-02-24
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biochemistry | Cell Biology | Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience | Molecular Biology
Abstract
The cJun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway is implicated in the response to metabolic stress. Indeed, it is established that the ubiquitously expressed JNK1 and JNK2 isoforms regulate energy expenditure and insulin resistance. However, the role of the neuron-specific isoform JNK3 is unclear. Here we demonstrate that JNK3 deficiency causes hyperphagia selectively in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. JNK3 deficiency in neurons that express the leptin receptor LEPRb was sufficient to cause HFD-dependent hyperphagia. Studies of sub-groups of leptin-responsive neurons demonstrated that JNK3 deficiency in AgRP neurons, but not POMC neurons, was sufficient to cause the hyperphagic response. These effects of JNK3 deficiency were associated with enhanced excitatory signaling by AgRP neurons in HFD-fed mice. JNK3 therefore provides a mechanism that contributes to homeostatic regulation of energy balance in response to metabolic stress.
Keywords
JNK, cell biology, leptin, mouse, neuroscience, satiety, signal transduction
Rights and Permissions
© 2016, Vernia et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
DOI of Published Version
10.7554/eLife.10031
Source
Elife. 2016 Feb 24;5. pii: e10031. doi: 10.7554/eLife.10031. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
eLife
Related Resources
PubMed ID
26910012
Repository Citation
Vernia S, Morel C, Madara JC, Cavanagh-Kyros J, Barrett T, Chase KO, Kennedy NJ, Jung D, Kim JK, Aronin N, Flavell RA, Lowell BB, Davis RJ. (2016). Excitatory transmission onto AgRP neurons is regulated by cJun NH2-terminal kinase 3 in response to metabolic stress. Davis Lab Publications. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10031. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/davis/56
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Biochemistry Commons, Cell Biology Commons, Cellular and Molecular Physiology Commons, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons, Molecular Biology Commons