In the last years, autophagy has been revealed as an essential pathway for multiple biological processes and physiological functions. As a catabolic route, autophagy regulation by nutrient availability has been evolutionarily conserved from yeast to mammals. On one hand, autophagy induction by starvation is associated with a significant loss in body weight in mice. Here, we demonstrate that both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of the autophagy process compromise weight loss induced by starvation. Moreover, autophagic potential also impacts on weight gain induced by distinct hypercaloric regimens. Atg4b-deficient mice, which show limited autophagic competence, exhibit a major increase in body weight in response to distinct obesity-associated metabolic challenges. This response is characterized by the presence of larger adipocytes in visceral fat tissue, increased hepatic steatosis, as well as reduced glucose tolerance and attenuated insulin responses. Similarly, autophagy-deficient mice are more vulnerable to experimentally induced type-I diabetes, showing an increased susceptibility to acute streptozotocin administration. Notably, pharmacological stimulation of autophagy in wild-type mice by spermidine reduced both weight gain and obesity-associated alterations upon hypercaloric regimens. Altogether, these results indicate that systemic autophagic activity influences the resilience of the organism to weight gain induced by high-calorie diets, as well as to the obesity-associated features of both type-1 and type-2 diabetes.
- MeSH
- autofagie * MeSH
- beta-buňky metabolismus patologie MeSH
- buněčná smrt účinky léků genetika MeSH
- cysteinové endopeptidasy nedostatek MeSH
- dieta škodlivé účinky MeSH
- experimentální diabetes mellitus genetika metabolismus patologie MeSH
- myši knockoutované MeSH
- myši MeSH
- obezita chemicky indukované genetika metabolismus patologie MeSH
- proteiny spojené s autofagií nedostatek MeSH
- tukové buňky metabolismus patologie MeSH
- ztučnělá játra chemicky indukované genetika metabolismus patologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- myši MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
