Visfatin: a protein secreted by visceral fat that mimics the effects of insulin.
Fat tissue produces a variety of secreted proteins (adipocytokines) with important roles in metabolism. We isolated a newly identified adipocytokine, visfatin, that is highly enriched in the visceral fat of both humans and mice and whose expression level in plasma increases during the development of obesity. Visfatin corresponds to a protein identified previously as pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF), a 52-kilodalton cytokine expressed in lymphocytes. Visfatin exerted insulin-mimetic effects in cultured cells and lowered plasma glucose levels in mice. Mice heterozygous for a targeted mutation in the visfatin gene had modestly higher levels of plasma glucose relative to wild-type littermates. Surprisingly, visfatin binds to and activates the insulin receptor. Further study of visfatin's physiological role may lead to new insights into glucose homeostasis and/or new therapies for metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
Fukuhara
Atsunori
A
Department of Medicine and Pathophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, and Department of Organismal Biosystems, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Matsuda
Morihiro
M
Nishizawa
Masako
M
Segawa
Katsumori
K
Tanaka
Masaki
M
Kishimoto
Kae
K
Matsuki
Yasushi
Y
Murakami
Mirei
M
Ichisaka
Tomoko
T
Murakami
Hiroko
H
Watanabe
Eijiro
E
Takagi
Toshiyuki
T
Akiyoshi
Megumi
M
Ohtsubo
Tsuguteru
T
Kihara
Shinji
S
Yamashita
Shizuya
S
Makishima
Makoto
M
Funahashi
Tohru
T
Yamanaka
Shinya
S
Hiramatsu
Ryuji
R
Matsuzawa
Yuji
Y
Shimomura
Iichiro
I
D017667:Adipocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D018390:Gene Targeting; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008820:Mice, Obese; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011972:Receptor, Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D040521:Subcutaneous Tissue; D014781:Viscera
D001786:Blood Glucose; D016207:Cytokines; D007328:Insulin; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; C085455:nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, human; C495867:nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, mouse; D011972:Receptor, Insulin