Intranasal Targeting of Hypothalamic PTP1B and TCPTP Reinstates Leptin and Insulin Sensitivity and Promotes Weight Loss in Obesity.

The importance of hypothalamic leptin and insulin resistance in the development and maintenance of obesity remains unclear. The tyrosine phosphatases protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and T cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TCPTP) attenuate leptin and insulin signaling and are elevated in the hypothalami of obese mice. We report that elevated PTP1B and TCPTP antagonize hypothalamic leptin and insulin signaling and contribute to the maintenance of obesity. Deletion of PTP1B and TCPTP in the hypothalami of obese mice enhances CNS leptin and insulin sensitivity, represses feeding, and increases browning, to decrease adiposity and improve glucose metabolism. The daily intranasal administration of a PTP1B inhibitor, plus the glucocorticoid antagonist RU486 that decreases TCPTP expression, represses feeding, increases browning, promotes weight loss, and improves glucose metabolism in obese mice. Our findings causally link heightened hypothalamic PTP1B and TCPTP with leptin and insulin resistance and the maintenance of obesity and define a viable pharmacological approach by which to promote weight loss in obesity.

Persistent Leptin Signaling in the Arcuate Nucleus Impairs Hypothalamic Insulin Signaling and Glucose Homeostasis in Obese Mice.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with reduced physiological responses to leptin and insulin, leading to the concept of obesity-associated hormonal resistance. OBJECTIVES: Here, we demonstrate that contrary to expectations, leptin signaling not only remains functional but also is constantly activated in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) neurons of obese mice. This state of persistent response to endogenous leptin underpins the lack of response to exogenous leptin. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study of combined leptin and insulin signaling demonstrates that there is a common pool of ARH neurons responding to both hormones. More importantly, we show that the constant activation of leptin receptor neurons in the ARH prevents insulin signaling in these neurons, leading to impaired glucose tolerance. Accordingly, antagonising leptin signaling in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice restores insulin signaling in the ARH and improves glucose homeostasis. Direct inhibition of PTP1B in the CNS restores arcuate insulin signaling similarly to leptin inhibition; this effect is likely to be mediated by AgRP neurons since PTP1B deletion specifically in AgRP neurons restores glucose and insulin tolerance in DIO mice. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, our results suggest that the constant activation of arcuate leptin signaling in DIO mice increases PTP1B expression, which exerts an inhibitory effect on insulin signaling leading to impaired glucose homeostasis.

Celastrol Promotes Weight Loss in Diet-Induced Obesity by Inhibiting the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases PTP1B and TCPTP in the Hypothalamus.

Celastrol is a natural pentacyclic triterpene used in traditional Chinese medicine with significant weight-lowering effects. Celastrol-administered mice at 100 µg/kg decrease food consumption and body weight via a leptin-dependent mechanism, yet its molecular targets in this pathway remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate in vivo that celastrol-induced weight loss is largely mediated by the inhibition of leptin negative regulators protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) 1B (PTP1B) and T-cell PTP (TCPTP) in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus. We show in vitro that celastrol binds reversibly and inhibits noncompetitively PTP1B and TCPTP. NMR data map the binding site to an allosteric site in the catalytic domain that is in proximity of the active site. By using a panel of PTPs implicated in hypothalamic leptin signaling, we show that celastrol additionally inhibited PTEN and SHP2 but had no activity toward other phosphatases of the PTP family. These results suggest that PTP1B and TCPTP in the ARC are essential for celastrol's weight lowering effects in adult obese mice.

Insulin regulates POMC neuronal plasticity to control glucose metabolism.

Hypothalamic neurons respond to nutritional cues by altering gene expression and neuronal excitability. The mechanisms that control such adaptive processes remain unclear. Here we define populations of POMC neurons in mice that are activated or inhibited by insulin and thereby repress or inhibit hepatic glucose production (HGP). The proportion of POMC neurons activated by insulin was dependent on the regulation of insulin receptor signaling by the phosphatase TCPTP, which is increased by fasting, degraded after feeding and elevated in diet-induced obesity. TCPTP-deficiency enhanced insulin signaling and the proportion of POMC neurons activated by insulin to repress HGP. Elevated TCPTP in POMC neurons in obesity and/or after fasting repressed insulin signaling, the activation of POMC neurons by insulin and the insulin-induced and POMC-mediated repression of HGP. Our findings define a molecular mechanism for integrating POMC neural responses with feeding to control glucose metabolism.

Celastrol-Induced Weight Loss Is Driven by Hypophagia and Independent From UCP1.

Celastrol, a plant-derived constituent of traditional Chinese medicine, has been proposed to offer significant potential as an antiobesity drug. However, the molecular mechanism for this activity is unknown. We show that the weight-lowering effects of celastrol are driven by decreased food consumption. Although young Lep ob mice respond with a decrease in food intake and body weight, adult Lep db and Lep ob mice are unresponsive to celastrol, suggesting that functional leptin signaling in adult mice is required to elicit celastrol's catabolic actions. Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1 (PTP1B), a leptin negative-feedback regulator, has been previously reported to be one of celastrol's targets. However, we found that global PTP1B knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice have comparable weight loss and hypophagia when treated with celastrol. Increased levels of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in subcutaneous white and brown adipose tissue suggest celastrol-induced thermogenesis as a further mechanism. However, diet-induced obese UCP1 WT and KO mice have comparable weight loss upon celastrol treatment, and celastrol treatment has no effect on energy expenditure under ambient housing or thermoneutral conditions. Overall, our results suggest that celastrol-induced weight loss is hypophagia driven and age-dependently mediated by functional leptin signaling. Our data encourage reconsideration of therapeutic antiobesity strategies built on leptin sensitization.

A Hypothalamic Phosphatase Switch Coordinates Energy Expenditure with Feeding.

Beige adipocytes can interconvert between white and brown-like states and switch between energy storage versus expenditure. Here we report that beige adipocyte plasticity is important for feeding-associated changes in energy expenditure and is coordinated by the hypothalamus and the phosphatase TCPTP. A fasting-induced and glucocorticoid-mediated induction of TCPTP, inhibited insulin signaling in AgRP/NPY neurons, repressed the browning of white fat and decreased energy expenditure. Conversely feeding reduced hypothalamic TCPTP, to increase AgRP/NPY neuronal insulin signaling, white adipose tissue browning and energy expenditure. The feeding-induced repression of hypothalamic TCPTP was defective in obesity. Mice lacking TCPTP in AgRP/NPY neurons were resistant to diet-induced obesity and had increased beige fat activity and energy expenditure. The deletion of hypothalamic TCPTP in obesity restored feeding-induced browning and increased energy expenditure to promote weight loss. Our studies define a hypothalamic switch that coordinates energy expenditure with feeding for the maintenance of energy balance.

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases in Hypothalamic Insulin and Leptin Signaling.

The hypothalamus is critical to the coordination of energy balance and glucose homeostasis. It responds to peripheral factors, such as insulin and leptin, that convey to the brain the degree of adiposity and the metabolic status of the organism. The development of leptin and insulin resistance in hypothalamic neurons appears to have a key role in the exacerbation of diet-induced obesity. In rodents, this has been attributed partly to the increased expression of the tyrosine phosphatases Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and T cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TCPTP), which attenuate leptin and insulin signaling. Deficiencies in PTP1B and TCPTP in the brain, or specific neurons, promote insulin and leptin signaling and prevent diet-induced obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and fatty liver disease. Although targeting phosphatases and hypothalamic circuits remains challenging, recent advances indicate that such hurdles might be overcome. Here, we focus on the roles of PTP1B and TCPTP in insulin and leptin signaling and explore their potential as therapeutic targets.

Elevated hypothalamic TCPTP in obesity contributes to cellular leptin resistance.

In obesity, anorectic responses to leptin are diminished, giving rise to the concept of "leptin resistance." Increased expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) has been associated with the attenuation of leptin signaling and development of cellular leptin resistance. Here we report that hypothalamic levels of the tyrosine phosphatase TCPTP are also elevated in obesity to attenuate the leptin response. We show that mice that lack TCPTP in neuronal cells have enhanced leptin sensitivity and are resistant to high-fat-diet-induced weight gain and the development of leptin resistance. Also, intracerebroventricular administration of a TCPTP inhibitor enhances leptin signaling and responses in mice. Moreover, the combined deletion of TCPTP and PTP1B in neuronal cells has additive effects in the prevention of diet-induced obesity. Our results identify TCPTP as a critical negative regulator of hypothalamic leptin signaling and causally link elevated TCPTP to the development of cellular leptin resistance in obesity.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase hPTPN20a is targeted to sites of actin polymerization.

The human genome encodes 38 classical tyrosine-specific PTPs (protein tyrosine phosphatases). Many PTPs have been shown to regulate fundamental cellular processes and several are mutated in human diseases. We report that the product of the PTPN20 gene at the chromosome locus 10q11.2 is alternatively spliced to generate 16 possible variants of the classical human non-transmembrane PTP 20 (hPTPN20). One of these variants, hPTPN20a, was expressed in a wide range of both normal and transformed cell lines. The catalytic domain of hPTPN20 exhibited catalytic activity towards tyrosyl phosphorylated substrates, confirming that it is a bona fide PTP. In serum-starved COS1 cells, hPTPN20a was targeted to the nucleus and the microtubule network, colocalizing with the microtubule-organizing centre and intracellular membrane compartments, including the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. Stimulation of cells with epidermal growth factor, osmotic shock, pervanadate, or integrin ligation targeted hPTPN20a to actin-rich structures that included membrane ruffles. The present study identifies hPTPN20a as a novel and widely expressed phosphatase with a dynamic subcellular distribution that is targeted to sites of actin polymerization.