Cited by 75Fibroblast Growth Factor ResearchAdipose Tissue and MetabolismMuscle Physiology and Disorders

Muscle mitochondrial stress adaptation operates independently of endogenous FGF21 action

Open access
Ost, Mario, Coleman, Verena, Voigt, Anja, van Schothorst, Evert M., Keipert, Susanne, van der Stelt, Inge, Ringel, Sebastian, Graja, Antonia +6 more·2016·Molecular Metabolism

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) was recently discovered as stress-induced myokine during mitochondrial disease and proposed as key metabolic mediator of the integrated stress response (ISR) presumably causing systemic metabolic improvements. Curiously, the precise cell-non-autonomous and cell-autonomous relevance of endogenous FGF21 action remained poorly understood. METHODS: We made use of the established UCP1 transgenic (TG) mouse, a model of metabolic perturbations made by a specific decrease in muscle mitochondrial efficiency through increased respiratory uncoupling and robust metabolic adaptation and muscle ISR-driven FGF21 induction. In a cross of TG with Fgf21-knockout (FGF21(-/-)) mice, we determined the functional role of FGF21 as a muscle stress-induced myokine under low and high fat feeding conditions. RESULTS: Here we uncovered that FGF21 signaling is dispensable for metabolic improvements evoked by compromised mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. Strikingly, genetic ablation of FGF21 fully counteracted the cell-non-autonomous metabolic remodeling and browning of subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT), together with the reduction of circulating triglycerides and cholesterol. Brown adipose tissue activity was similar in all groups. Remarkably, we found that FGF21 played a negligible role in muscle mitochondrial stress-related improved obesity resistance, glycemic control and hepatic lipid homeostasis. Furthermore, the protective cell-autonomous muscle mitohormesis and metabolic stress adaptation, including an increased muscle proteostasis via mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR(mt)) and amino acid biosynthetic pathways did not require the presence of FGF21. CONCLUSIONS: Here we demonstrate that although FGF21 drives WAT remodeling, the adaptive pseudo-starvation response under elevated muscle mitochondrial stress conditions operates independently of both WAT browning and FGF21 action. Thus, our findings challenge FGF21 as key metabolic mediator of the mitochondrial stress adaptation and powerful therapeutic target during muscle mitochondrial disease.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.molmet.2015.11.002

Cites

70 of 70 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Skeletal muscle is not only a producer but also a target of FGF21 because it expresses the cofactor β-klotho and the FGFRs.

    “Recent studies reported that skeletal muscle is not only a producer but also a target of FGF21 because it expresses the cofactor β‐klotho and the FGFRs.6, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19”
  • Muscle-dependent systemic release of FGF21 increases with starvation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, obesity, mitochondrial myopathies, and aging.

    “In contrast, muscle‐dependent systemic release of FGF21 increases with starvation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, obesity, mitochondrial myopathies, and aging.6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19”
  • FGF21 is a stress-induced myokine released under conditions of starvation, ER stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, obesity, mitochondrial myopathies, and aging.

    “(ii) FGF21 is a stress‐induced myokine, which is released under conditions of starvation, ER stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, obesity, mitochondrial myopathies, and aging.6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ost, M., Coleman, V., Voigt, A., van Schothorst, E. M., Keipert, S., van der Stelt, I., Ringel, S., Graja, A., Ambrosi, T., Kipp, A. P., Jastroch, M., Schulz, T. J., Keijer, J., & Klaus, S.
Affiliations
  • German Institute of Human Nutrition (DE)
  • Helmholtz Munich (DE)
  • Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Corresponding author
Ost, Mario
Venue
Molecular Metabolism
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-02
Volume
5
Issue
2
Pages
79-90
ISSN
2212-8778 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2176777883
Cited by
75
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7
FWCI
3.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecular Metabolism (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften (ZB MED) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Site cant be reached (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Leibniz Society (SAW-2013-FBN-3)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fibroblast Growth Factor Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
Keywords
FGF21, integrated stress response, myokines, white adipose tissue browning, brown adipose tissue, obesity resistance, glycemic control, hepatic lipid homeostasis, mitochondrial unfolded protein response, mitohormesis, muscle proteostasis, amino acid biosynthesis, mitochondrial disease

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review