Histone lactylation mediated by Fam172a in POMC neurons regulates energy balance

Abstract Glycolysis-derived lactate was identified as substrate for histone lactylation, which has been regarded as a significant role in transcriptional regulation in many tissues. However, the role of histone lactylation in the metabolic center, the hypothalamus, is still unknown. Here, we show th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhuo Chen, Baocheng Wan, Hong Zhang, Lina Zhang, Rong Zhang, Lianxi Li, Yi Zhang, Cheng Hu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-11-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54488-4
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Summary:Abstract Glycolysis-derived lactate was identified as substrate for histone lactylation, which has been regarded as a significant role in transcriptional regulation in many tissues. However, the role of histone lactylation in the metabolic center, the hypothalamus, is still unknown. Here, we show that hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neuron-specific deletion of family with sequence similarity 172, member A (Fam172a) can increase histone lactylation and protect mice against diet-induced obesity (DIO) and related metabolic disorders. Conversely, overexpression of Fam172a in POMC neurons led to an obesity-like phenotype. Using RNA-seq and CUT&Tag chromatin profiling analyzes, we find that knockdown of Fam172a activates the glycolytic process and increases peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), which affects the synthesis of α-MSH, via H4K12la (histone lactylation). In addition, pharmacological inhibition of lactate production clearly abrogates the anti-obesity effect of PFKO (POMC-Cre, Fam172a loxP/loxP , POMC neurons Fam172a knockout). These findings highlight the importance of Fam172a and lactate in the development of obesity and our results mainly concern male mice.
ISSN:2041-1723