Insulin controls food intake and energy balance via NPY neurons.

OBJECTIVES: Insulin signaling in the brain has been implicated in the control of satiety, glucose homeostasis and energy balance. However, insulin signaling is dispensable in energy homeostasis controlling AgRP or POMC neurons and it is unclear which other neurons regulate these effects. Here we describe an ancient insulin/NPY neuronal network that governs energy homeostasis across phyla. METHODS: To address the role of insulin action specifically in NPY neurons, we generated a variety of models by selectively removing insulin signaling in NPY neurons in flies and mice and testing the consequences on energy homeostasis. RESULTS: By specifically targeting the insulin receptor in both fly and mouse NPY expressing neurons, we found NPY-specific insulin signaling controls food intake and energy expenditure, and lack of insulin signaling in NPY neurons leads to increased energy stores and an obese phenotype. Additionally, the lack of insulin signaling in NPY neurons leads to a dysregulation of GH/IGF-1 axis and to altered insulin sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results suggest that insulin actions in NPY neurons is critical for maintaining energy balance and an impairment of this pathway may be causally linked to the development of metabolic diseases.

Snord116 is critical in the regulation of food intake and body weight.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is the predominant genetic cause of obesity in humans. Recent clinical reports have suggested that micro-deletion of the Snord116 gene cluster can lead to PWS, however, the extent of the contributions of the encoded snoRNAs is unknown. Here we show that mice lacking Snord116 globally have low birth weight, increased body weight gain, energy expenditure and hyperphagia. Consistent with this, microarray analysis of hypothalamic gene expression revealed a significant alteration in feeding related pathways that was also confirmed by in situ hybridisation. Importantly, selective deletion of Snord116 only from NPY expressing neurons mimics almost exactly the global deletion phenotype including the persistent low birth weight, increased body weight gain in early adulthood, increased energy expenditure and hyperphagia. Mechanistically, the lack of Snord116 in NPY neurons leads to the upregulation of NPY mRNA consistent with the hyperphagic phenotype and suggests a critical role of Snord116 in the control of NPY neuronal functions that might be dysregulated in PWS.

Y2 receptor signalling in NPY neurons controls bone formation and fasting induced feeding but not spontaneous feeding.

Y2 receptors have been implicated in the development of obesity and are a potential target for obesity treatment due to their known role of inhibiting neuropeptide Y (NPY) induced feeding responses. However, the precise neuronal population on which Y2 receptors act to fulfil this role is less clear. Here we utilise a novel inducible, postnatal onset NPY neurons specific deletion model to investigate the functional consequences of loss of Y2 signalling in this population of neurons on feeding and energy homeostasis regulation. While the consequences of lack of Y2 signalling in NPY neurons are confirmed in terms of the uncoupling of suppression/increasing of NPY and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA expression in the arcuate nuclei (Arc), respectively, this lack of Y2 signalling surprisingly does not have any significant effect on spontaneous food intake. Fasting induced food intake, however, is strongly increased but only in the first 1h after re-feeding. Consequently no significant changes in body weight are being observed although body weight gain is increased in male mice after postnatal onset Y2 deletion. Importantly, another known function of central Y2 receptor signalling, the suppression of bone formation is conserved in this conditional model with whole body bone mineral content being decreased. Taken together this model confirms the critical role of Y2 signalling to control NPY and associated POMC expression in the Arc, but also highlights the possibility that others, non-NPY neuronal Y2 receptors, are also involved in controlling feeding and energy homeostasis regulation.

The Activity of SN33638, an Inhibitor of AKR1C3, on Testosterone and 17ß-Estradiol Production and Function in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer and ER-Positive Breast Cancer.

AKR1C3 is a novel therapeutic target in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer because of its ability to produce testosterone and 17ß-estradiol intratumorally, thus promoting nuclear receptor signaling and tumor progression. A panel of CRPC, ER-positive breast cancer and high/low AKR1C3-expressing cell lines were treated with SN33638, a selective inhibitor of AKR1C3, in the presence of hormone or prostaglandin (PG) precursors, prior to evaluation of cell proliferation and levels of 11ß-PG F2α (11ß-PGF2α), testosterone, 17ß-estradiol, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). A meta-analysis of AKR1C3 mRNA expression in patient samples was also conducted, which revealed that AKR1C3 mRNA was upregulated in CRPC, but downregulated in ER-positive breast cancer. 11ß-PGF2α and testosterone levels in the cell line panel correlated with AKR1C3 protein expression. SN33638 prevented 11ß-PGF2α formation in cell lines that expressed AKR1C3, but partially inhibited testosterone formation and subsequently cell proliferation and/or PSA expression only in high (LAPC4 AKR1C3-overexpressing cells) or moderate (22RV1) AKR1C3-expressing cell lines. SN33638 had little effect on 17ß-estradiol production or estrone-stimulated cell proliferation in ER-positive breast cancer cell lines. Although SN33638 could prevent 11ß-PGF2α formation, its ability to prevent testosterone and 17ß-estradiol production and their roles in CRPC and ER-positive breast cancer progression was limited due to AKR1C3-independent steroid hormone production, except in LAPC4 AKR1C3 cells where the majority of testosterone was AKR1C3-dependent. These results suggest that inhibition of AKR1C3 is unlikely to produce therapeutic benefit in CRPC and ER-positive breast cancer patients, except possibly in the small subpopulation of CRPC patients with tumors that have upregulated AKR1C3 expression and are dependent on AKR1C3 to produce the testosterone required for their growth.