Abstract
Taurine, a nonprotein amino acid, is widely distributed in almost all animal tissues. Ingestion of taurine helps to improve obesity and its related metabolic disorders. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the protective role of taurine against obesity is not completely understood. In this study, it was found that intraperitoneal treatment of mice with taurine alleviated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, improved insulin sensitivity, and increased energy expenditure and adaptive thermogenesis of the mice. Meanwhile, administration of the mice with taurine markedly induced the browning of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) with significantly elevated expression of PGC1α, UCP1, and other thermogenic genes in iWAT. In vitro studies indicated that taurine also induced the development of brown-like adipocytes in C3H10T1/2 white adipocytes. Knockdown of PGC1α blunted the role of taurine in promoting the brown-like adipocyte phenotypes in C3H10T1/2 cells. Moreover, taurine treatment enhanced AMPK phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo, and knockdown of AMPKα1 prevented taurine-mediated induction of PGC1α in C3H10T1/2 cells. Consistently, specific knockdown of PGC1α in iWAT of the HFD-fed mice inhibited taurine-induced browning of iWAT, with the role of taurine in the enhancement of adaptive thermogenesis, the prevention of obesity, and the improvement of insulin sensitivity being partially impaired. These results reveal a functional role of taurine in facilitating the browning of white adipose tissue, which depends on the induction of PGC1α. Our studies also suggest a potential mechanism for the protective role of taurine against obesity, which involves taurine-mediated browning of white adipose tissue.
Highlights
Taurine, a nonprotein amino acid, is widely distributed in almost all animal tissues
Because obesity is usually associated with elevated plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels and impaired glucose homeostasis, we analyzed whether taurine treatment could improve them
Mechanistic studies revealed that taurine was able to promote the browning of white adipose tissue, which contributed to the role of taurine in ameliorating obesity in mice
Summary
The metabolic effects of taurine were examined by intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of taurine into HFD-fed C57BL6 male mice. The mice were obviously protected from weight gain after 5 weeks of taurine treatment. During the last 5 weeks of HFD feeding, mice were treated with taurine or PBS as a control once every day. This was associated with significantly decreased adiposity and increased percentage of lean body mass (Fig. 1B). Consistent with the reduced fat mass content, mice treated by taurine had smaller adipocytes in inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT, the subcutaneous fat), in which the size of lipid droplets was reduced (Fig. 1C). Our results demonstrate that taurine reduced the body weight and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in HFDfed mice
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