The use of urinary proteomics in the assessment of suitability of mouse models for ageing.

Ageing is a complex process characterised by a systemic and progressive deterioration of biological functions. As ageing is associated with an increased prevalence of age-related chronic disorders, understanding its underlying molecular mechanisms can pave the way for therapeutic interventions and managing complications. Animal models such as mice are commonly used in ageing research as they have a shorter lifespan in comparison to humans and are also genetically close to humans. To assess the translatability of mouse ageing to human ageing, the urinary proteome in 89 wild-type (C57BL/6) mice aged between 8-96 weeks was investigated using capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS). Using age as a continuous variable, 295 peptides significantly correlated with age in mice were identified. To investigate the relevance of using mouse models in human ageing studies, a comparison was performed with a previous correlation analysis using 1227 healthy subjects. In mice and humans, a decrease in urinary excretion of fibrillar collagens and an increase of uromodulin fragments was observed with advanced age. Of the 295 peptides correlating with age, 49 had a strong homology to the respective human age-related peptides. These ortholog peptides including several collagen (N = 44) and uromodulin (N = 5) fragments were used to generate an ageing classifier that was able to discriminate the age among both wild-type mice and healthy subjects. Additionally, the ageing classifier depicted that telomerase knock-out mice were older than their chronological age. Hence, with a focus on ortholog urinary peptides mouse ageing can be translated to human ageing.

Brain glucagon-like peptide 1 signaling controls the onset of high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance and reduces energy expenditure.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a peptide released by the intestine and the brain. We previously demonstrated that brain GLP-1 increases glucose-dependent hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. These two features are major characteristics of the onset of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we investigated whether blocking brain GLP-1 signaling would prevent high-fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetes in the mouse. Our data show that a 1-month chronic blockage of brain GLP-1 signaling by exendin-9 (Ex9), totally prevented hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance in HFD mice. Furthermore, food intake was dramatically increased, but body weight gain was unchanged, showing that brain GLP-1 controlled energy expenditure. Thermogenesis, glucose utilization, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, muscle glycolytic respiratory index, UCP2 expression in muscle, and basal ambulatory activity were all increased by the exendin-9 treatment. Thus, we have demonstrated that in response to a HFD, brain GLP-1 signaling induces hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance and decreases energy expenditure by reducing metabolic thermogenesis and ambulatory activity.