Amazing stuff! This discovery may offer new treatments for e.g. obesity, diabetes!
"... Up until now it was thought that the nerves extending into fat tissue were mostly linked to this sympathetic nervous system pathway. ...
Two novel methods were deployed in this research. One is called HYBRiD, and it renders fat tissue transparent, allowing researchers a unique window into the paths of neurons. The other method is dubbed ROOT, and it lets the researchers study exactly how certain neurons localized in fat tissue communicate with other parts of the body. ..."
Two novel methods were deployed in this research. One is called HYBRiD, and it renders fat tissue transparent, allowing researchers a unique window into the paths of neurons. The other method is dubbed ROOT, and it lets the researchers study exactly how certain neurons localized in fat tissue communicate with other parts of the body. ..."
"... For years, it was assumed that hormones passively floating through the blood were the way that a person’s fat—called adipose tissue—could send information related to stress and metabolism to the brain. Now, Scripps Research scientists report in Nature that newly identified sensory neurons carry a stream of messages from adipose tissue to the brain. ...
“The discovery of these neurons suggests for the first time that your brain is actively surveying your fat, rather than just passively receiving messages about it,” ...
The researchers discovered that nearly half of these neurons didn’t connect to the sympathetic nervous system, but instead to dorsal root ganglia—an area of the brain where all sensory neurons originate. ...
The experiments revealed that when the brain doesn’t receive sensory messages from adipose tissue, programs triggered by the sympathetic nervous system—related to the conversion of white fat to brown fat—become overly active in fat cells, resulting in a larger than normal fat pad with especially high levels of brown fat, which breaks down other fat and sugar molecules to produce heat. Indeed, the animals with blocked sensory neurons—and high levels of sympathetic signaling—had increased body temperatures. ..."
“The discovery of these neurons suggests for the first time that your brain is actively surveying your fat, rather than just passively receiving messages about it,” ...
The researchers discovered that nearly half of these neurons didn’t connect to the sympathetic nervous system, but instead to dorsal root ganglia—an area of the brain where all sensory neurons originate. ...
The experiments revealed that when the brain doesn’t receive sensory messages from adipose tissue, programs triggered by the sympathetic nervous system—related to the conversion of white fat to brown fat—become overly active in fat cells, resulting in a larger than normal fat pad with especially high levels of brown fat, which breaks down other fat and sugar molecules to produce heat. Indeed, the animals with blocked sensory neurons—and high levels of sympathetic signaling—had increased body temperatures. ..."
From the abstract:
"Adipose tissues communicate with the central nervous system to maintain whole-body energy homeostasis. The mainstream view is that circulating hormones secreted by the fat convey the metabolic state to the brain, which integrates peripheral information and regulates adipocyte function through noradrenergic sympathetic output. Moreover, somatosensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia innervate adipose tissue. ... Here we developed viral, genetic and imaging strategies to manipulate sensory nerves in an organ-specific manner in mice. This enabled us to visualize the entire axonal projection of dorsal root ganglia from the soma to subcutaneous adipocytes, establishing the anatomical underpinnings of adipose sensory innervation. Functionally, selective sensory ablation in adipose tissue enhanced the lipogenic and thermogenetic transcriptional programs, resulting in an enlarged fat pad, enrichment of beige adipocytes and elevated body temperature under thermoneutral conditions. The sensory-ablation-induced phenotypes required intact sympathetic function. ..."
Scripps Research scientists eavesdrop on communication between fat and brain Newly discovered sensory neurons send messages from fat tissue to the brain and could eventually be co-opted to treat obesity or metabolic disease.
The role of somatosensory innervation of adipose tissues (open access)
Fig. 1: Adipose tissues receive robust somatosensory innervations
No comments:
Post a Comment