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Mitochondrial RNA stimulates beige adipocyte development in young mice
- Source :
- Nat. Metab. 4, 1684–1696 (2022)
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Childhood obesity is a serious public health crisis and a critical factor that determines future obesity prevalence. Signals affecting adipocyte development in early postnatal life have a strong potential to trigger childhood obesity; however, these signals are still poorly understood. We show here that mitochondrial (mt)RNA efflux stimulates transcription of nuclear-encoded genes for mitobiogenesis and thermogenesis in adipocytes of young mice and human infants. While cytosolic mtRNA is a potential trigger of the interferon (IFN) response, young adipocytes lack such a response to cytosolic mtRNA due to the suppression of IFN regulatory factor (IRF)7 expression by vitamin D receptor signalling. Adult and obese adipocytes, however, strongly express IRF7 and mount an IFN response to cytosolic mtRNA. In turn, suppressing IRF7 expression in adult adipocytes restores mtRNA-induced mitobiogenesis and thermogenesis and eventually mitigates obesity. Retrograde mitochondrion-to-nucleus signalling by mtRNA is thus a mechanism to evoke thermogenic potential during early adipocyte development and to protect against obesity.
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nat. Metab. 4, 1684–1696 (2022)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a8bcbd7e446f77e2b7cf14676445305d