Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hypothalamic Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States.
Touchstone Diabetes Center, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States.
Elife. 2016 Nov 22;5:e18206. doi: 10.7554/eLife.18206.
Exercise has numerous beneficial metabolic effects. The central nervous system (CNS) is critical for regulating energy balance and coordinating whole body metabolism. However, a role for the CNS in the regulation of metabolism in the context of the exercise remains less clear. Here, using genetically engineered mice we assessed the requirement of steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) expression in neurons of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) in mediating the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism. We found that VMH-specific deletion of SF-1 blunts (a) the reductions in fat mass, (b) improvements in glycemia, and (c) increases in energy expenditure that are associated with exercise training. Unexpectedly, we found that SF-1 deletion in the VMH attenuates metabolic responses of skeletal muscle to exercise, including induction of PGC-1α expression. Collectively, this evidence suggests that SF-1 expression in VMH neurons is required for the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism.
运动对代谢有许多有益的影响。中枢神经系统（CNS）对于调节能量平衡和协调全身代谢至关重要。然而，CNS 在运动背景下调节代谢的作用尚不清楚。在这里，我们使用基因工程小鼠评估了在下丘脑腹内侧核（VMH）神经元中类固醇生成因子-1（SF-1）表达缺失对运动对代谢的有益影响的介导作用。我们发现，VMH 中 SF-1 的特异性缺失削弱了（a）脂肪量的减少，（b）血糖的改善，以及（c）与运动训练相关的能量消耗的增加。出乎意料的是，我们发现 VMH 中 SF-1 的缺失减弱了骨骼肌对运动的代谢反应，包括诱导 PGC-1α 的表达。总之，这些证据表明，VMH 神经元中 SF-1 的表达是运动对代谢有益作用所必需的。
