SUMMARY The primary task of white adipose tissue (WAT) is the storage of lipids. However, ‘beige’ adipocytes also exist in WAT. Beige adipocytes burn fat and dissipate the energy as heat, but their abundance is diminished in obesity. Stimulating beige adipocyte development, or WAT browning, increases energy expenditure and holds potential for combating metabolic disease and obesity. Here we report that insulin and leptin act together on hypothalamic neurons to promote WAT browning and weight loss. Deletion of the phosphatases PTP1B and TCPTP enhanced insulin and leptin signaling in proopiomelanocortin neurons and prevented diet-induced obesity by increasing WAT browning and energy expenditure. The co-infusion of insulin plus leptin into the CNS or the activation of proopiomelanocortin neurons also increased WAT browning and decreased adiposity. Our findings identify a homeostatic mechanism for coordinating the status of energy stores, as relayed by insulin and leptin, with the central control of WAT browning.

SUMMARY Hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons promote satiety. Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) is critical for central regulation of food intake. We interrogated whether CB1R-controlled feeding is paralleled by decreased activity of POMC neurons. Chemical promotion of CB1R activity increased feeding, and strikingly, CB1R activation also promoted neuronal activity of POMC cells. This paradoxical increase in POMC activity was crucial for CB1R-induced feeding, because Designer-Receptors-Exclusively-Activated-by-Designer-Drugs (DREADD)-mediated inhibition of POMC neurons diminished, while DREADD-mediated activation of POMC neurons enhanced CB1R-driven feeding. The Pomc gene encodes both the anorexigenic peptide, α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH), and the peptide, β-endorphin. CB1R activation selectively increased β-endorphin but not α-MSH release in the hypothalamus, and, systemic or hypothalamic administration of the opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone, blocked acute CB1R-induced feeding. These processes involved mitochondrial adaptations, which, when blocked, abolished CB1R-induced cellular responses and feeding. Together, these results unmasked a previously unsuspected role of POMC neurons in promotion of feeding by cannabinoids.

SummaryObesity is associated with increased blood pressure (BP), which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. We found that the increase in leptin levels seen in diet-induced obesity (DIO) drives an increase in BP in rodents, an effect that was not seen in animals deficient in leptin or leptin receptors (LepR). Furthermore, humans with loss-of-function mutations in leptin and the LepR have low BP despite severe obesity. Leptin’s effects on BP are mediated by neuronal circuits in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH), as blocking leptin with a specific antibody, antagonist, or inhibition of the activity of LepR-expressing neurons in the DMH caused a rapid reduction of BP in DIO mice, independent of changes in weight. Re-expression of LepRs in the DMH of DIO LepR-deficient mice caused an increase in BP. These studies demonstrate that leptin couples changes in weight to changes in BP in mammalian species.

Leptin regulates body weight in mice by decreasing appetite and increasing sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), which increases energy expenditure in interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT). Diet-induced obese mice (DIO) are resistant to the anorectic actions of leptin. We evaluated whether leptin still stimulated sympathetic outflow in DIO mice. We measured iBAT temperature as a marker of SNA. We found that obese hyperleptinemic mice have higher iBAT temperature than mice on regular diet. Conversely, obese leptin-deficient ob/ob mice have lower iBAT temperature. Additionally, leptin increased SNA in obese (DIO and ob/ob) and control mice, despite DIO mice being resistant to anorectic action of leptin. We demonstrated that neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) of DIO mice mediate the thermogenic responses to hyperleptinemia in obese mammals because blockade of leptin receptors in the DMH prevented the thermogenic effects of leptin.Peripheral Melotan II (MTII) injection increased iBAT temperature, but it was blunted by blockade of DMH melanocortin receptors (MC4Rs) by injecting agouti-related peptide (AgRP) directly into the DMH, suggesting a physiological role of the DMH on temperature regulation in animals with normal body weight. Nevertheless, obese mice without a functional melanocortin system (MC4R KO mice) have an increased sympathetic outflow to iBAT compared with their littermates, suggesting that higher leptin levels drive sympathoexcitation to iBAT by a melanocortin-independent pathway.Because the sympathetic nervous system contributes in regulating blood pressure, heart rate, and hepatic glucose production, selective leptin resistance may be a crucial mechanism linking adiposity and metabolic syndrome.

The neuropeptide kisspeptin regulates reproduction by stimulating gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons via the kisspeptin receptor KISS1R. In addition to GnRH neurons, KISS1R is expressed in other brain areas and peripheral tissues, which suggests that kisspeptin has additional functions beyond reproduction. Here, we studied the energetic and metabolic phenotype in mice lacking kisspeptin signaling (Kiss1r KO mice). Compared with WT littermates, adult Kiss1r KO females displayed dramatically higher BW, leptin levels, and adiposity, along with strikingly impaired glucose tolerance. Conversely, male Kiss1r KO mice had normal BW and glucose regulation. Surprisingly, despite their obesity, Kiss1r KO females ate less than WT females; however, Kiss1r KO females displayed markedly reduced locomotor activity, respiratory rate, and energy expenditure, which were not due to impaired thyroid hormone secretion. The BW and metabolic phenotype in Kiss1r KO females was not solely reflective of absent gonadal estrogen, as chronically ovariectomized Kiss1r KO females developed obesity, hyperleptinemia, reduced metabolism, and glucose intolerance compared with ovariectomized WT females. Our findings demonstrate that in addition to reproduction, kisspeptin signaling influences BW, energy expenditure, and glucose homeostasis in a sexually dimorphic and partially sex steroid-independent manner; therefore, alterations in kisspeptin signaling might contribute, directly or indirectly, to some facets of human obesity, diabetes, or metabolic dysfunction. IntroductionThe neuropeptide kisspeptin (encoded by KISS1) and its receptor, KISS1R (formerly known as GPR54), are key regulators of reproduction. Humans and mice with mutations in these genes show impaired puberty, hypogonadism, and infertility (1-3). Kisspeptin activates the reproductive axis by directly stimulating, via KISS1R, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons (4). Although kisspeptin is expressed in discrete brain regions (5), it is also present in some peripheral tissues (6-8). Likewise, Kiss1r is also expressed in multiple non-GnRH brain areas and in several peripheral tissues (8-10), including metabolic tissues like fat, liver, and pancreas. This suggests that kisspeptin has additional uncharacterized roles outside of reproduction. Yet, thus far, virtually all research on kisspeptin signaling has focused on reproductive regulation. Changes in energy status or metabolic signals affect both reproduction and hypothalamic kisspeptin levels (11, 12), which suggests that kisspeptin neurons mediate metabolic effects on reproductive status. However, whether kisspeptin signaling also plays a reciprocal role in regulating energy and metabolic status is unclear. Young Kiss1 KO, Kiss1r KO, and WT mice display no genotype differences in BW (3); however, in that study, BW was only measured before full maturity, and other metabolic parameters were not assessed. Initial studies in male rats found no effects of central kisspeptin on