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Julien SG, Kim SY, Brunmeir R, Sinnakannu JR, Ge X, Li H, Ma W, Yaligar J, KN BP, Velan SS, Röder PV, Zhang Q, Sim CK, Wu J, Garcia-Miralles M, Pouladi MA, Xie W, McFarlane C, Han W, Xu F. Narciclasine attenuates diet-induced obesity by promoting oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle. PLoS Biol 2017; 15:e1002597. [PMID: 28207742 PMCID: PMC5331945 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2016] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Obesity develops when caloric intake exceeds metabolic needs. Promoting energy expenditure represents an attractive approach in the prevention of this fast-spreading epidemic. Here, we report a novel pharmacological strategy in which a natural compound, narciclasine (ncls), attenuates diet-induced obesity (DIO) in mice by promoting energy expenditure. Moreover, ncls promotes fat clearance from peripheral metabolic tissues, improves blood metabolic parameters in DIO mice, and protects these mice from the loss of voluntary physical activity. Further investigation suggested that ncls achieves these beneficial effects by promoting a shift from glycolytic to oxidative muscle fibers in the DIO mice thereby enhancing mitochondrial respiration and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in the skeletal muscle. Moreover, ncls strongly activates AMPK signaling specifically in the skeletal muscle. The beneficial effects of ncls treatment in fat clearance and AMPK activation were faithfully reproduced in vitro in cultured murine and human primary myotubes. Mechanistically, ncls increases cellular cAMP concentration and ADP/ATP ratio, which further lead to the activation of AMPK signaling. Blocking AMPK signaling through a specific inhibitor significantly reduces FAO in myotubes. Finally, ncls also enhances mitochondrial membrane potential and reduces the formation of reactive oxygen species in cultured myotubes. Narciclasine is a natural compound that attenuates diet-induced obesity in mice by promoting energy expenditure; it also induces a number of beneficial metabolic effects and activates AMPK signaling in skeletal muscle. Obesity results from the imbalance of food intake and energy expenditure. Since the restriction of food intake is difficult and inefficient in maintaining long-term weight loss, enhancing energy expenditure is now an attractive approach in combating obesity. Here, we analysed the role in this process of a natural compound called narciclasine. We showed that narciclasine treatment reduces excess fat accumulation in peripheral metabolic tissues, improves blood metabolic parameters and insulin sensitivity in obese mice, and protects these mice from the loss of voluntary physical activity. Further investigation suggested that narciclasine enhances mitochondrial respiration and fatty acid consumption in the skeletal muscle. In addition, narciclasine strongly activates the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling, which is a central sensor of the cellular energy status and a key player in maintaining energy homeostasis, specifically in the skeletal muscle. Mechanistically, we found that narciclasine increases cAMP concentration and ADP/ATP ratio in muscle cells, which further lead to AMPK activation. Finally, we observed that narciclasine increases mitochondrial membrane potential and reduces the production of reactive oxygen species in muscle cells. Our findings suggest that narciclasine is a natural compound that attenuates diet-induced obesity in mice by promoting energy expenditure.
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MESH Headings
- AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism
- Adenosine Diphosphate/metabolism
- Adenosine Triphosphate/metabolism
- Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids/pharmacology
- Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids/therapeutic use
- Animals
- Biomarkers/metabolism
- Cell Respiration/drug effects
- Cells, Cultured
- Cyclic AMP/metabolism
- Diet/adverse effects
- Diet, High-Fat
- Energy Metabolism/drug effects
- Enzyme Activation/drug effects
- Fatty Acids/metabolism
- Humans
- Male
- Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial/drug effects
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mitochondria/drug effects
- Mitochondria/metabolism
- Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/drug effects
- Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/metabolism
- Muscle Fibers, Slow-Twitch/drug effects
- Muscle Fibers, Slow-Twitch/metabolism
- Muscle, Skeletal/drug effects
- Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism
- Obesity/drug therapy
- Obesity/metabolism
- Oxidation-Reduction/drug effects
- Phenanthridines/pharmacology
- Phenanthridines/therapeutic use
- Physical Conditioning, Animal
- Protective Agents/pharmacology
- Protective Agents/therapeutic use
- Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism
- Signal Transduction/drug effects
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofi G. Julien
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Sun-Yee Kim
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Reinhard Brunmeir
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Joanna R. Sinnakannu
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Xiaojia Ge
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Hongyu Li
- Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Wei Ma
- Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Jadegoud Yaligar
- Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Metabolic Imaging Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Bhanu Prakash KN
- Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Metabolic Imaging Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Sendhil S. Velan
- Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Metabolic Imaging Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Pia V. Röder
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Qiongyi Zhang
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Choon Kiat Sim
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Jingyi Wu
- Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, THU-PKU Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Marta Garcia-Miralles
- Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Mahmoud A. Pouladi
- Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Wei Xie
- Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, THU-PKU Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Craig McFarlane
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Weiping Han
- Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Feng Xu
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- * E-mail:
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