Logo image
Role of Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF21) in Undernutrition-Related Attenuation of Growth in Mice
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Role of Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF21) in Undernutrition-Related Attenuation of Growth in Mice

Rita Ann Kubicky, Shufang Wu, Alexei Kharitonenkov and Francesco De Luca
Endocrinology (Philadelphia), v 153(5), pp 2287-2295
01 May 2012
PMID: 22374976
url
https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2011-1909View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Open

Abstract

Endocrinology & Metabolism Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology
Reduced caloric intake in mammals causes reduced skeletal growth and GH insensitivity. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine whether the increased activity of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) during chronic undernutrition in mice causes GH insensitivity and growth failure. After 4 wk of food restriction, fgf21 knockout (KO) mice exhibited greater body and tibial growth than their wild-type (WT) littermates. Daily injections of recombinant human FGF21 in a subgroup of food-restricted fgf21 KO mice prevented these differences in body and tibial growth. At the end of the 4-wk food restriction, GH binding and GH receptor expression were reduced in the liver and in the growth plate of food-restricted WT mice (compared to WT mice fed ad libitum), whereas they were similar between food-restricted and ad libitum KO mice. In addition, a single injection of GH induced greater liver signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 phosphorylation and IGF-I mRNA in food-restricted KO mice than in WT mice. Lastly, in the tibial growth plate of food-restricted WT mice, FGF21 mRNA and protein expression was greater than that of WT mice fed ad libitum. In contrast, the IGF-I mRNA and protein expression was smaller. Our findings support a causative role for FGF21 in the inhibition of skeletal growth during prolonged undernutrition. Such role may be mediated by the antagonistic effect of FGF21 on GH action in the liver and, possibly, in the growth plate. (Endocrinology 153: 2287-2295, 2012)

Metrics

15 Record Views
70 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Industry collaboration
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Logo image