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The effect of leptin on Lep expression is tissue-specific and nutritionally regulated

Nature Medicine volume 5, pages 895–899 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Leptin, the product of the Obese (Lep) gene, orchestrates behavioral and metabolic responses to nutrient intake. Here, we demonstrate tissue-specific autoregulation of Lep. Moderate increases in circulating leptin considerably decreased Lep expression in adipose tissue and induced lep expression in skeletal muscle, a tissue that normally does not express this gene. Changes in nutrient availability resulted in rapid alterations in Lep autoregulation. These findings demonstrate negative feedback regulation of Lep in fat, and indicate that leptin secretion can function as a vehicle of 'cross-talk' between adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, leading to tissue-specific modulation of the 'leptin signal'.

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Figure 1: The effect of leptin on the abundance of adipose tissue Lep mRNA.
Figure 2: The effect of leptin and nutritional status on the abundance of skeletal muscle Lep mRNA.
Figure 3: Leptin in situ hybridization in skeletal muscle.
Figure 4: Effect of peripheral leptin infusions on Lep mRNA.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants to L.R. from the National Institutes of Health (DK 48321 and DK 45024) and the American Diabetes Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Research & Training Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10461, USA

    Jiali Wang, Rong Liu, LiSen Liu, Rahena Chowdhury, Nir Barzilai, Jianzhen Tan & Luciano Rossetti

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  1. Jiali Wang
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Correspondence to Luciano Rossetti.

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Wang, J., Liu, R., Liu, L. et al. The effect of leptin on Lep expression is tissue-specific and nutritionally regulated. Nat Med 5, 895–899 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/11335

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