FXR Regulates Adipose Tissue Remodeling During Obesity

Obesity is a major epidemic and results in adipose tissue expansion and dysregulated glucose and lipid metabolism. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear receptor expressed in many tissues that transcriptionally regulates energy homeostasis. However, the role of FXR in adipose tissue remains elusive. We identified Fxr expression in adipocytes isolated from both white (WAT) and brown (BAT) adipose tissues, and uncovered that adipocyte-specific Fxr knockout (Ad-FxrKO) mice recently generated in our laboratory exhibit adipocyte hypertrophy and concomitant reductions in lipolysis and the expression of lipolytic genes in both white and brown fat depots, which is correlated with ectopic fat accumulation in the liver and systemic glucose intolerance when challenged with a 60% high fat diet (HFD) or high fat/high sucrose western diet. Further, transcriptomic analysis of WAT from Ad-FxrKO and control mice upon chow or HFD revealed that many genes enriched in pathways associated with lipid and glucose homeostasis are misregulated in Ad-FxrKO mice with distinct patterns under normal and obese conditions. These data suggest that adipocyte-specific FXR may play a crucial role in regulating fat accumulation and the subsequent glucose homeostasis during diet-induced obesity. In addition to the energy storage and distribution properties of adipose tissue, BAT has high mitochondrial content and burns energy to produce heat and combat obesity. We found that Ad-FxrKO mice display reductions in energy expenditure and the expression of mitochondrial genes, revealing a key role of FXR in controlling BAT mitochondrial function and the consequent thermogenesis. Overall, we demonstrate that FXR can control fat breakdown and regulate mitochondrial functions in the adipose tissue, which in turn, modulates whole-body lipid and glucose metabolism.