Targeting Clic1 for the Treatment of Obesity: A Novel Therapeutic Strategy to Reduce Food Intake and Body Weight

Overconsumption of energy-rich food is a key driver of the obesity epidemic. However, the neural circuits that regulate food overconsumption are highly complex and many molecular components of these circuits remain unknown. Our recent studies attribute a novel role of Clic1 as a driver of food intake and overconsumption. Clic1 is expressed in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and expression specifically increases in Agrp/Npy neurons in the fasted state. Importantly, Clic1 exists in two forms and fasting induces a transformation from the predominant soluble enzymatic form to the membrane-associated ion channel form. Clic1KO mice eat significantly less and have a lower body weight than WT littermates when either fed chow or high fat diet. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of Clic1 inhibition results in suppression of food intake and promotes highly efficacious weight loss in obese mice. Overall design: Randomized controlled study