Abstract
The recently-identified fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein is associated with various physiological functions including energy and body weight regulation. Ubiquitously expressed, FTO was identified in heart homogenates although its function is unknown. We studied whether FTO is specifically expressed within the cardiac myocyte and its potential role pertaining to the hypertrophic effect of the adipokine leptin. Most experiments were performed using cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes which showed nuclei-specific FTO expression. Leptin significantly increased FTO expression which was associated with myocyte hypertrophy although both events were abrogated by FTO knockdown with siRNA. Administration of a leptin receptor antibody to either normal or obese rats significant reduced myocardial FTO protein expression. Responses in cardiomyocytes were accompanied by JAK2/STAT3 activation whereas JAK2/STAT3 inhibition abolished these effects. Expression of the cut-like homeobox 1(CUX1) transcriptional factor was significantly increased by leptin although this was restricted to the cathepsin L-dependent, proteolytically-derived shorter p110CUX1 isoform whereas the longer p200CUX1 protein was not significantly affected. Cathepsin L expression and activity were both significantly increased by leptin whereas a cathepsin L peptide inhibitor or siRNA specific for CUX1 completely prevented the leptin-induced increase in FTO expression. The cathepsin L peptide inhibitor or siRNA-induced knockdown of either CUX1 or FTO abrogated the hypertrophic response to leptin. Two other pro-hypertrophic factors, endothelin-1 or angiotensin II had no effect on FTO expression and FTO knockdown did not alter the hypertrophic response to either agent. This study demonstrates leptin-induced FTO upregulation in cardiomyocytes via JAK2/STAT3- dependent CUX1 upregulation and suggests an FTO regulatory function of leptin. It also demonstrates for the first time a functional role of FTO in the cardiomyocyte.
Highlights
The function of the recently identified fat mass and obesityassociated (FTO) protein is not well-understood it is likely involved in various aspects of physiological and pathophysiological functions
In the present study we investigated the possible contribution of intracellular FTO to the pro-hypertrophic effect of leptin in cultured ventricular myocytes
Our study is in agreement with a previous report showing FTO expression in the heart [8] but extend those findings to clearly demonstrate that this occurs within the cardiomyocyte and, that the expression is restricted within the nuclear compartment
Summary
The function of the recently identified fat mass and obesityassociated (FTO) protein is not well-understood it is likely involved in various aspects of physiological and pathophysiological functions. Some of these include regulation of energy intake and metabolism, adipogenesis, DNA methylation and FTO has been suggested to act as a transcriptional factor [1,2]. FTO is extensively expressed in the brain (where it regulates energy expenditure) it is expressed in many other tissues including the heart, albeit at substantially lower levels [8]. Originally FTO was considered as ‘‘a gene of unknown function in an unknown pathway’’ [4]
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