title: Visfatin: a protein secreted by visceral fat that mimics the effects of insulin.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Atsunori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
authors.forename: Morihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
authors.forename: Katsumori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Segawa
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Kae
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuki
authors.forename: Mirei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichisaka
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Eijiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akiyoshi
authors.forename: Tsuguteru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohtsubo
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kihara
authors.forename: Shizuya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makishima
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Funahashi
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
authors.forename: Iichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shimomura
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D016207:Cytokines; D007328:Insulin; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; C085455:nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, human; C495867:nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, mouse; D011972:Receptor, Insulin