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Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Determining Basal Energy Expenditure and the Capacity of Thermogenic Adipocytes to Expend Energy in Obese Mice
Published on: November 11, 2021
BCAA catabolism in TRH neurons of paraventricular nucleus regulates energy expenditure
Xing Ming1, Jialin Tan1, Miaomiao Yuan1
1Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; Shanghai National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of the National Health Commission of the PR China, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Endocrine Tumor, Shanghai Digital Medicine Innovation Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
The role of hypothalamic branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism in the maintenance of energy homeostasis remains elusive. By using Mendelian randomization, we found that genetically predicted branched-chain keto acid dehydrogenase E1α subunit (BCKDHA) expression in the hypothalamus was negatively associated with fat mass. Hypothalamic deletion of BCKDHA (Bckdhaf/f;RIP-Cre) leads to increased fat mass, reduced energy expenditure, and blunted browning of white adipose tissue in mice, with decreases of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) expression in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis activity. Mice with adeno-associated virus-mediated deletion of BCKDHA in the PVNTRH neurons displays a similar metabolic phenotype to Bckdhaf/f;RIP-Cre mice. TRH supplementation ameliorates the abnormal phenotypes of Bckdhaf/f;RIP-Cre mice. Defective BCAA catabolism in the hypothalamus results in hypoacetylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) due to decreased acetyl-CoA content, reducing its binding to the Trh promoter. Our study highlights the crucial role of hypothalamic BCAA catabolism in maintaining energy homeostasis through HPT axis.
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