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PRL2 links magnesium flux and sex-dependent circadian metabolic rhythms
Noriko Uetani, Serge Hardy, Simon-Pierre Gravel, Silke Kiessling, Adam Pietrobon, Nau Nau Wong, Valérie Chénard, Nicolas Cermakian, Julie St-Pierre, Michel L. Tremblay
Noriko Uetani, Serge Hardy, Simon-Pierre Gravel, Silke Kiessling, Adam Pietrobon, Nau Nau Wong, Valérie Chénard, Nicolas Cermakian, Julie St-Pierre, Michel L. Tremblay
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Research Article Cell biology Metabolism

PRL2 links magnesium flux and sex-dependent circadian metabolic rhythms

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Abstract

Magnesium (Mg2+) plays pleiotropic roles in cellular biology, and it is essentially required for all living organisms. Although previous studies demonstrated intracellular Mg2+ levels were regulated by the complex of phosphatase of regenerating liver 2 (PRL2) and Mg2+ transporter of cyclin M (CNNMs), physiological functions of PRL2 in whole animals remain unclear. Interestingly, Mg2+ was recently identified as a regulator of circadian rhythm–dependent metabolism; however, no mechanism was found to explain the clock-dependent Mg2+ oscillation. Herein, we report PRL2 as a missing link between sex and metabolism, as well as clock genes and daily cycles of Mg2+ fluxes. Our results unveil that PRL2-null animals displayed sex-dependent alterations in body composition, and expression of PRLs and CNNMs were sex- and circadian time–dependently regulated in brown adipose tissues. Consistently, PRL2-KO mice showed sex-dependent alterations in thermogenesis and in circadian energy metabolism. These physiological changes were associated with an increased rate of uncoupled respiration with lower intracellular Mg2+ in PRL2-KO cells. Moreover, PRL2 deficiency causes inhibition of the ATP citrate lyase axis, which is involved in fatty acid synthesis. Overall, our findings support that sex- and circadian-dependent PRL2 expression alter intracellular Mg2+ levels, which accordingly controls energy metabolism status.

Authors

Noriko Uetani, Serge Hardy, Simon-Pierre Gravel, Silke Kiessling, Adam Pietrobon, Nau Nau Wong, Valérie Chénard, Nicolas Cermakian, Julie St-Pierre, Michel L. Tremblay

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Figure 7

Circadian regulation of PRL and CNNM genes.

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Circadian regulation of PRL and CNNM genes.
(A) Relative mRNA levels of ...
(A) Relative mRNA levels of Prl2, Cnnm2, and Acly in BAT from publically available microarray data (26). (B) Binding affinity of core circadian transcription factors (TFs) to the Prl and Cnnm promoters throughout the circadian cycle. Tag counts were unity-normalized across the sampling interval, providing a rough indication of TF:DNA binding affinity throughout the circadian cycle. Circadian time (CT) 0–12 = subjective day, CT 12–24 = subjective night (30). (C) Western blot analysis of mouse liver lysates. Total protein extracts from 2 mice at each CT were loaded and immunoblotted for PRL1/2 and CNNM3 antibodies (upper panel). Signal intensity was quantified, and data were normalized against the stain-free total protein measurement (lower panel).

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