| First Author | Fan G | Year | 2021 |
| Journal | Endocr J | Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 53-62 |
| PubMed ID | 32863292 | Mgi Jnum | J:333200 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7434976 | Doi | 10.1507/endocrj.EJ20-0179 |
| Citation | Fan G, et al. (2021) Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein promotes skeletal muscle lipid metabolism in cold-stressed mice. Endocr J 68(1):53-62 |
| abstractText | Skeletal muscle is the most abundant tissue in the adult body and plays an essential role in maintaining heat production for the entire body. Recently, muscle-derived non-shivering thermogenesis under cold conditions has received much attention. Zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) is an adipokine that was shown to influence energy metabolism in the adipose tissue. We used ZAG knock-out (ZAG KO) and wild-type (WT) mice to investigate the effect of ZAG on the lipid metabolism of skeletal muscle upon exposure to a low temperature (6°C) for one week. The results show that cold stress significantly increases the level of lipolysis, energy metabolism, and fat browning-related proteins in the gastrocnemius muscle of WT mice. In contrast, ZAG KO mice did not show any corresponding changes. Increased expression of β3-adrenoceptor (β3-AR) and protein kinase A (PKA) might be involved in the ZAG pathway in mice exposed cold stress. Furthermore, expression of lipolysis-related proteins (ATGL and p-HSL) and energy metabolism-related protein (PGC1α, UCP2, UCP3 and COX1) was significantly enhanced in ZAG KO mice after injection of ZAG-recombinant plasmids. These results indicate that ZAG promotes lipid-related metabolism in the skeletal muscle when the animals are exposed to low temperatures. This finding provides a promising target for the development of new therapeutic approaches to improve skeletal muscle energy metabolism. |
