Anorexigenic lipopeptides ameliorate central insulin signaling and attenuate tau phosphorylation in hippocampi of mice with monosodium glutamate-induced obesity.

Numerous epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated that patients who suffer from metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or obesity, have higher risks of cognitive dysfunction and of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Impaired insulin signaling in the brain could contribute to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, which contain an abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau protein. This study aimed to determine whether potential tau hyperphosphorylation could be detected in an obesity-induced pre-diabetes state and whether anorexigenic agents could affect this state. We demonstrated that 6-month-old mice with monosodium glutamate (MSG) obesity, which represent a model of obesity-induced pre-diabetes, had increased tau phosphorylation at Ser396 and Thr231 in the hippocampus compared with the controls, as determined by western blots. Two weeks of subcutaneous treatment with a lipidized analog of prolactin-releasing peptide (palm-PrRP31) or with the T2DM drug liraglutide, which both had a central anorexigenic effect, resulted in increased phosphorylation of the insulin cascade kinases PDK1 (Ser241), Akt (Thr308), and GSK-3ß (Ser9). Furthermore, these drugs attenuated phosphorylation at Ser396, Thr231, and Thr212 of tau and of the primary tau kinases in the hippocampi of 6-month-old MSG-obese mice. We identified tau hyperphosphorylation in the obesity-induced pre-diabetes state in MSG-obese mice and demonstrated the beneficial effects of palm-PrRP31 and liraglutide, both of known central anorexigenic effects, on hippocampal insulin signaling and on tau phosphorylation.

Obesity-related hypertension: possible pathophysiological mechanisms.

Hypertension is one of the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, but despite a century of clinical and basic research, the discrete etiology of this disease is still not fully understood. The same is true for obesity, which is recognized as a major global epidemic health problem nowadays. Obesity is associated with an increasing prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors including hypertension, abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia. Epidemiological studies have shown that excess weight gain predicts future development of hypertension, and the relationship between BMI and blood pressure (BP) appears to be almost linear in different populations. There is no doubt that obesity-related hypertension is a multifactorial and polygenic trait, and multiple potential pathogenetic mechanisms probably contribute to the development of higher BP in obese humans. These include hyperinsulinemia, activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, sympathetic nervous system stimulation, abnormal levels of certain adipokines such as leptin, or cytokines acting at the vascular endothelial level. Moreover, some genetic and epigenetic mechanisms are also in play. Although the full manifestation of both hypertension and obesity occurs predominantly in adulthood, their roots can be traced back to early ontogeny. The detailed knowledge of alterations occurring in the organism of experimental animals during particular critical periods (developmental windows) could help to solve this phenomenon in humans and might facilitate the age-specific prevention of human obesity-related hypertension. In addition, better understanding of particular pathophysiological mechanisms might be useful in so-called personalized medicine.

CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript) peptide specific binding sites in PC12 cells have characteristics of CART peptide receptors.

CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript) peptide is a neuropeptide with a powerful central anorexigenic effect. Specific CART peptide binding sites, most likely CART peptide receptors, have been found in PC12 cells. This study further characterizes the CART peptide binding sites in PC12 cells. After differentiation to a neuronal phenotype with nerve growth factor, the number of CART peptide binding sites in PC12 cells tripled. Following dexamethasone treatment, which transforms PC12 cells into chromaffin-like cells, the number of CART peptide binding sites substantially decreased. CART peptide did not affect the differentiation or acetylcholinesterase activity of PC12 cells, indicating that CART peptide does not participate in differentiation or neuronal activity. CART peptide increased the phosphorylation of SAPK/JNK (stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun-amino-terminal kinase) and subsequent c-Jun protein expression. These effects were reversed by SP600125, a specific JNK-kinase inhibitor. CART peptide did not significantly affect ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase), CREB (cAMP responsive element binding protein), or p38 phosphorylation and c-Fos protein expression. Central administration of CART peptide into mice also resulted in increased c-Jun positive cells in dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus and nucleus of the solitary tract, areas involved in food intake regulation. Activation of c-Jun by CART peptide might indicate a possible role of CART peptide in managing stress conditions rather than a role in cell proliferation or differentiation as well as the more complex and/or specific regulation ways by transcription factors in some nuclei involved in food intake regulation. The characteristics of stress that CART peptide potentially mediates should be further studied.

Neuropeptide FF analog RF9 is not an antagonist of NPFF receptor and decreases food intake in mice after its central and peripheral administration.

Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) belongs to the RF-amide family of peptides bearing the identical C-terminal amino acid sequence (R-F-NH2). In addition to NPFF, prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP), another RF-amide, binds to NPFF receptors with high affinity. A selective antagonist of PrRP has not yet been identified, but a selective antagonist of NPFF, 1-adamantanecarbonyl-RF-NH2 (RF9), was recently reported to antagonize the hyperalgesic effect of NPFF after central administration to mice. In the present study, RF9 competed with NPFF analog D-Y-L-(N-Me)-F-Q-P-Q-R-F-NH2 (1DMe) in binding to CHO-K1 cell membranes transfected with the human NPFF2 receptor. In rat pituitary RC-4B/C cells, where the expression of the NPFF2 receptor was proved by immunodetection, RF9 did not reverse the phosphorylation of MAPK/ERK1/2 induced by [Tyr(1)]NPFF. In vivo experiments with fasted mice confirmed that centrally injected [Tyr(1)]NPFF significantly lowered food intake. However, RF9, a putative NPFF2 antagonist, did not reverse the anorectic effect of [Tyr(1)]NPFF. Paradoxically, RF9 itself exhibited an anorectic effect in fasted mice not only after intracerebroventricular but also after subcutaneous administration. This finding casts doubt on claims that RF9 is an NPFF antagonist.

New analogs of the CART peptide with anorexigenic potency: the importance of individual disulfide bridges.

The CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript) peptide is an anorexigenic neuropeptide that acts in the hypothalamus. The receptor and the mechanism of action of this peptide are still unknown. In our previous study, we showed that the CART peptide binds specifically to PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells in both the native and differentiated into neuronal phenotype. Two biologically active forms, CART(55-102) and CART(61-102), with equal biological activity, contain three disulfide bridges. To clarify the importance of each of these disulfide bridges in maintaining the biological activity of CART(61-102), an Ala scan at particular S-S bridges forming cysteines was performed, and analogs with only one or two disulfide bridges were synthesized. In this study, a stabilized CART(61-102) analog with norleucine instead of methionine at position 67 was also prepared and was found to bind to PC12 cells with an anorexigenic potency similar to that of CART(61-102). The binding study revealed that out of all analogs tested, [Ala(68,86)]CART(61-102), which contains two disulfide bridges (positions 74-94 and 88-101), preserved a high affinity to both native PC12 cells and those that had been differentiated into neurons. In food intake and behavioral tests with mice after intracerebroventricular administration, this analog showed strong and long-lasting anorexigenic potency. Therefore, the disulfide bridge between cysteines 68 and 86 in CART(61-102) can be omitted without a loss of biological activity, but the preservation of two other disulfide bridges and the full-length peptide are essential for biological activity.