Human ACVR1C missense variants that correlate with altered body fat distribution produce metabolic alterations of graded severity in knock-in mutant mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Genome-wide studies have identified three missense variants in the human gene ACVR1C, encoding the TGF-ß superfamily receptor ALK7, that correlate with altered waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (WHR/BMI), a measure of body fat distribution. METHODS: To move from correlation to causation and understand the effects of these variants on fat accumulation and adipose tissue function, we introduced each of the variants in the mouse Acvr1c locus and investigated metabolic phenotypes in comparison with a null mutation. RESULTS: Mice carrying the I195T variant showed resistance to high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, increased catecholamine-induced adipose tissue lipolysis and impaired ALK7 signaling, phenocopying the null mutants. Mice with the I482V variant displayed an intermediate phenotype, with partial resistance to HFD-induced obesity, reduction in subcutaneous, but not visceral, fat mass, decreased systemic lipolysis and reduced ALK7 signaling. Surprisingly, mice carrying the N150H variant were metabolically indistinguishable from wild type under HFD, although ALK7 signaling was reduced at low ligand concentrations. CONCLUSION: Together, these results validate ALK7 as an attractive drug target in human obesity and suggest a lower threshold for ALK7 function in humans compared to mice.

Calorie restriction has no effect on bone marrow tumour burden in a Vk*MYC transplant model of multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable haematological malignancy, caused by the uncontrolled proliferation of plasma cells within the bone marrow (BM). Obesity is a known risk factor for MM, however, few studies have investigated the potential of dietary intervention to prevent MM progression. Calorie restriction (CR) is associated with many health benefits including reduced cancer incidence and progression. To investigate if CR could reduce MM progression, dietary regimes [30% CR, normal chow diet (NCD), or high fat diet (HFD)] were initiated in C57BL/6J mice. Diet-induced changes were assessed, followed by inoculation of mice with Vk*MYC MM cells (Vk14451-GFP) at 16 weeks of age. Tumour progression was monitored by serum paraprotein, and at endpoint, BM and splenic tumour burden was analysed by flow cytometry. 30% CR promoted weight loss, improved glucose tolerance, increased BM adiposity and elevated serum adiponectin compared to NCD-fed mice. Despite these metabolic changes, CR had no significant effect on serum paraprotein levels. Furthermore, endpoint analysis found that dietary changes were insufficient to affect BM tumour burden, however, HFD resulted in an average two-fold increase in splenic tumour burden. Overall, these findings suggest diet-induced BM changes may not be key drivers of MM progression in the Vk14451-GFP transplant model of myeloma.

Deletion of Rptor in Preosteoblasts Reveals a Role for the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) Complex in Dietary-Induced Changes to Bone Mass and Glucose Homeostasis in Female Mice.

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) complex is the major nutrient sensor in mammalian cells that responds to amino acids, energy levels, growth factors, and hormones, such as insulin, to control anabolic and catabolic processes. We have recently shown that suppression of the mTORC1 complex in bone-forming osteoblasts (OBs) improved glucose handling in male mice fed a normal or obesogenic diet. Mechanistically, this occurs, at least in part, by increasing OB insulin sensitivity leading to upregulation of glucose uptake and glycolysis. Given previously reported sex-dependent differences observed upon antagonism of mTORC1 signaling, we investigated the metabolic and skeletal effects of genetic inactivation of preosteoblastic-mTORC1 in female mice. Eight-week-old control diet (CD)-fed Rptor ob -/- mice had a low bone mass with a significant reduction in trabecular bone volume and trabecular number, reduced cortical bone thickness, and increased marrow adiposity. Despite no changes in body composition, CD-fed Rptor ob -/- mice exhibited significant lower fasting insulin and glucose levels and increased insulin sensitivity. Upon high-fat diet (HFD) feeding, Rptor ob -/- mice were resistant to a diet-induced increase in whole-body and total fat mass and protected from the development of diet-induced insulin resistance. Notably, although 12 weeks of HFD increased marrow adiposity, with minimal changes in both trabecular and cortical bone in the female control mice, marrow adiposity was significantly reduced in HFD-fed Rptor ob -/- compared to both HFD-fed control and CD-fed Rptor ob -/- mice. Collectively, our results demonstrate that mTORC1 function in preosteoblasts is crucial for skeletal development and skeletal regulation of glucose homeostasis in both male and female mice. Importantly, loss of mTORC1 function in OBs results in metabolic and physiological adaptations that mirror a caloric restriction phenotype (under CD) and protects against HFD-induced obesity, associated insulin resistance, and marrow adiposity expansion. These results highlight the critical contribution of the skeleton in the regulation of whole-body energy homeostasis. © 2021 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

The mTORC1 complex in pre-osteoblasts regulates whole-body energy metabolism independently of osteocalcin.

Overnutrition causes hyperactivation of mTORC1-dependent negative feedback loops leading to the downregulation of insulin signaling and development of insulin resistance. In osteoblasts (OBs), insulin signaling plays a crucial role in the control of systemic glucose homeostasis. We utilized mice with conditional deletion of Rptor to investigate how the loss of mTORC1 function in OB affects glucose metabolism under normal and overnutrition dietary states. Compared to the controls, chow-fed Rptorob-/- mice had substantially less fat mass and exhibited adipocyte hyperplasia. Remarkably, upon feeding with high-fat diet, mice with pre- and post-natal deletion of Rptor in OBs were protected from diet-induced obesity and exhibited improved glucose metabolism with lower fasting glucose and insulin levels, increased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. This leanness and resistance to weight gain was not attributable to changes in food intake, physical activity or lipid absorption but instead was due to increased energy expenditure and greater whole-body substrate flexibility. RNA-seq revealed an increase in glycolysis and skeletal insulin signaling pathways, which correlated with the potentiation of insulin signaling and increased insulin-dependent glucose uptake in Rptor-knockout osteoblasts. Collectively, these findings point to a critical role for the mTORC1 complex in the skeletal regulation of whole-body glucose metabolism and the skeletal development of insulin resistance.

Osteocalcin-dependent regulation of glucose metabolism and fertility: Skeletal implications for the development of insulin resistance.

The skeleton has recently emerged as a critical insulin target tissue that regulates whole body glucose metabolism and male reproductive function. While our understanding of these new regulatory axes remains in its infancy, the bone-specific protein, osteocalcin, has been shown to be centrally involved. Undercarboxylated osteocalcin acts as a secretagogue in a feed-forward loop to stimulate pancreatic ß-cell proliferation and insulin secretion, improve insulin sensitivity, and promote testosterone production. Importantly, dysregulation of insulin signaling in bone causes a reduction in serum osteocalcin levels that is associated with elevated blood glucose and reduced serum insulin levels, suggesting that the skeleton may play a significant role in the development of diet-induced insulin resistance. Insulin signaling is negatively regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) which becomes hyper-activated in response to nutrient overload. Loss- and gain-of function models suggest that mTORC1 function in bone is essential for normal skeletal development; however, the role of this complex in the regulation of glucose metabolism remains to be determined. This review highlights our current understanding of the role played by osteocalcin in the skeletal regulation of glucose metabolism and fertility. In particular, it examines data emerging from transgenic mouse models which have revealed a pancreas-bone-testis regulatory axis and discusses recent human studies which seek to corroborate findings from mouse models with clinical observations. Moreover, we review recent studies which suggest dysregulation of insulin signaling in bone leads to the development of insulin resistance and discuss the potential role of mTORC1 signaling in this process.