LRb-STAT3 signaling is required for the neuroendocrine regulation of energy expenditure by leptin

Secretion of leptin from adipose tissue communicates body energy status to the neuroendocrine system by activating the long form of the leptin receptor (LRb). Lack of leptin or LRb (as in db/db mice) results in obesity that stems from the combined effects of hyperphagia and decreased energy expenditure. We have previously generated mice in which LRb is replaced with a mutant LRb (LRbS1138) that specifically disrupts LRb-->STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-3) signaling; mice homozygous for this mutant (s/s) display increased feeding and are obese. We have now examined energy expenditure in s/s and db/db mice. Consistent with the increased lean body mass of s/s animals, locomotor activity and acute cold tolerance (partly a measure of shivering thermogenesis) in s/s mice were modestly but significantly improved compared with db/db mice, although they were decreased compared with wild-type mice. Total and resting metabolic rates were similarly depressed in s/s and db/db mice, however. Indeed, s/s and db/db mice display similar reductions in thyroid function and brown adipose tissue expression of uncoupling protein-1, which is regulated by sympathetic nervous system (SNS) tone. Thus, the LRb-->STAT3 signal is central to both the control of energy expenditure by leptin and the neuroendocrine regulation of the SNS and the thyroid axis.