1. Academic Validation
  2. CB1R regulates soluble leptin receptor levels via CHOP, contributing to hepatic leptin resistance

CB1R regulates soluble leptin receptor levels via CHOP, contributing to hepatic leptin resistance

  • Elife. 2020 Nov 19;9:e60771. doi: 10.7554/eLife.60771.
Adi Drori 1 Asaad Gammal 1 Shahar Azar 1 Liad Hinden 1 Rivka Hadar 1 Daniel Wesley 2 Alina Nemirovski 1 Gergő Szanda 3 Maayan Salton 4 Boaz Tirosh 5 Joseph Tam 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory, Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • 2 Laboratory of Physiological Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, Bethesda, United States.
  • 3 MTA-SE Laboratory of Molecular Physiology, Department of Physiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • 5 The Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Abstract

The soluble isoform of Leptin receptor (sOb-R), secreted by the liver, regulates Leptin bioavailability and bioactivity. Its reduced levels in diet-induced obesity (DIO) contribute to hyperleptinemia and Leptin resistance, effects that are regulated by the endocannabinoid (eCB)/CB1R system. Here we show that pharmacological activation/blockade and genetic overexpression/deletion of hepatic CB1R modulates sOb-R levels and hepatic Leptin resistance. Interestingly, peripheral CB1R blockade failed to reverse DIO-induced reduction of sOb-R levels, increased fat mass and dyslipidemia, and hepatic steatosis in mice lacking C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), whereas direct activation of CB1R in wild-type hepatocytes reduced sOb-R levels in a CHOP-dependent manner. Moreover, CHOP stimulation increased sOb-R expression and release via a direct regulation of its promoter, while CHOP deletion reduced Leptin sensitivity. Our findings highlight a novel molecular aspect by which the hepatic eCB/CB1R system is involved in the development of hepatic Leptin resistance and in the regulation of sOb-R levels via CHOP.

Keywords

CHOP; ER stress; cb1 receptor; cell biology; endocannabinoids; leptin resistance; mouse; obesity.

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