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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 16, 2009, 29(37):11582-11593; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5712-08.2009

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Neurobiology of Disease
Enhanced Stat3 Activation in POMC Neurons Provokes Negative Feedback Inhibition of Leptin and InsulinSignaling in Obesity

Marianne B. Ernst,¹ Claudia M. Wunderlich,¹ Simon Hess,³ Moritz Paehler,³ Andrea Mesaros,¹ Sergei B. Koralov,⁴ André Kleinridders,¹ Andreas Husch,³ Heike Münzberg,⁵ Brigitte Hampel,¹ Jens Alber,¹ Peter Kloppenburg,³ Jens C. Brüning,^1,2,6 and F. Thomas Wunderlich¹

¹Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Center of Molecular Medicine Cologne, ²Second Department for Internal Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, and ³Institute of Zoology and Physiology, University of Cologne, CECAD, D-50674 Cologne, Germany, ⁴Immune Disease Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, ⁵Pennington Biomedical Research Institute, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808, and ⁶Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Ageing, D-50931 Cologne, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to either Dr. Jens C. Brüning or Dr. F. Thomas Wunderlich, Institute for Genetics, Zülpicher Straße 47, 50674 Cologne, Germany. Email: jens.bruening{at}uni-koeln.de or Email: Thomas.Wunderlich{at}uni-koeln.de

Leptin-stimulated Stat3 activation in proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-expressing neurons of the hypothalamus plays an important role in maintenance of energy homeostasis. While Stat3 activation in POMC neurons is required for POMC expression, the role of elevated basal Stat3 activation as present in the development of obesity has not been directly addressed. Here, we have generated and characterized mice expressing a constitutively active version of Stat3 (Stat3-C) in POMC neurons (Stat3-C^POMC mice). On normal chow diet, these animals develop obesity as a result of hyperphagia and decreased POMC expression accompanied by central leptin and insulin resistance. This unexpected finding coincides with POMC-cell-specific, Stat3-mediated upregulation of SOCS3 expression inhibiting both leptin and insulin signaling as insulin-stimulated PIP₃ (phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5 triphosphate) formation and protein kinase B (AKT) activation in POMC neurons as well as with the fact that insulin's ability to hyperpolarize POMC neurons is largely reduced in POMC cells of Stat3-C^POMC mice. These data indicate that constitutive Stat3 activation is not sufficient to promote POMC expression but requires simultaneous PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)-dependent release of FOXO1 repression. In contrast, upon exposure to a high-fat diet, food intake and body weight were unaltered in Stat3-C^POMC mice compared with control mice. Taken together, these experiments directly demonstrate that enhanced basal Stat3 activation in POMC neurons as present in control mice upon high-fat feeding contributes to the development of hypothalamic leptin and insulin resistance.

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Received Dec. 1, 2008; revised July 14, 2009; accepted July 28, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to either Dr. Jens C. Brüning or Dr. F. Thomas Wunderlich, Institute for Genetics, Zülpicher Straße 47, 50674 Cologne, Germany. Email: jens.bruening{at}uni-koeln.de or Email: Thomas.Wunderlich{at}uni-koeln.de

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