Lymphatic vascular defects promoted by Prox1 haploinsufficiency cause adult-onset obesity.

ABSTRACT

Multiple organs cooperate to regulate appetite, metabolism, and glucose and fatty acid homeostasis. Here, we identified and characterized lymphatic vasculature dysfunction as a cause of adult-onset obesity. We found that functional inactivation of a single allele of the homeobox gene Prox1 led to adult-onset obesity due to abnormal lymph leakage from mispatterned and ruptured lymphatic vessels. Prox1 heterozygous mice are a new model for adult-onset obesity and lymphatic vascular disease.