The current obesity epidemic and its major sequelae, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular diseases, threaten human health, productivity, and life quality. Recent studies, which continue to further clarify the molecular basis of these diseases, aim to ultimately provide a path to better diagnoses and therapies for disease prevention and reversal. Insulin resistance is a defining feature of obesity-linked type 2 diabetes and nearly always coexists with reduced plasma adiponectin levels and a constellation of other abnormalities that increase the risks for cardio- and cerebro-vascular diseases.
Adiponectin, identified independently by four groups using different approaches, was originally cloned as an adipocyte-enriched protein highly induced during 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation. Over the past two decades, adiponectin has been widely recognized as an insulin sensitizer implicated in the regulation of energy metabolism and insulin response in major insulin target tissues, and as an adipokine that modulates inflammatory responses. While the salutary effects of adiponectin in metabolism and cardiovascular protection are well established, the relatively high plasma concentration and the presence of multimeric forms of this adipokine have, at least partially, limited its use as a therapeutic agent.
Journal of Molecular Cell Biology is delighted to publish a Special Issue on the Adiponectin Story after Two Decades, summarizing major findings since the initial report of adiponectin in 1995, focusing on its physiological actions and underlying molecular mechanisms in the regulation of energy metabolism and maintenance of metabolic homeostasis. As one of the first identifiers, Philipp E. Scherer’s group at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center provide a historic perspective on adiponectin research completed during the past twenty years, focusing on major findings as well as key questions on adiponectin and adiponectin-related therapeutic implications. Hong Ruan and Lily Q. Dong from University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio discuss tissue- and cell-specific functions of adiponectin, focusing on regulation of adiponectin signaling, and potential crosstalk and connections between the adiponectin and other signaling pathways involved in metabolic regulation. Aimin Xu’s group at the University of Hong Kong comprehensively review the control of energy metabolism and vascular homeostasis by FGF21−adiponectin axis. And Meilian Liu’s group at University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center discuss recent findings on the regulation of innate immunity and metabolic stress sensing by adiponectin.
Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular details of adiponectin signaling would provide a guide to therapies that target the root cause(s) of obesity-linked type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.
[2016-04-29]
