Histone lactylation mediated by Fam172a in POMC neurons regulates energy balance [RNA-seq]

Glycolysis-derived lactate was identified as substrate for histone lactylation, which has been regarded as a significant role in transcriptional regulation in many tissues. However, the role of histone lactylation in the metabolic center, the hypothalamus, is still unknown. Here, we show that hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neuron-specific deletion of family with sequence similarity 172, member A (Fam172a) can increase histone lactylation and protect mice against diet-induced obesity (DIO) and related metabolic disorders. Conversely, overexpression of Fam172a in POMC neurons led to an obesity-like phenotype. Using RNA-seq and CUT&Tag chromatin profiling analyses, we find that knockdown of Fam172a activates the glycolytic process and increases peptidylglycine a-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), which affects the synthesis of a-MSH, via H4K12la (histone lactylation). In addition, pharmacological inhibition of lactate production clearly abrogates the anti-obesity effect of PFKO (POMC-Cre, Fam172aloxP/loxP, POMC neurons Fam172a knockout). These findings highlight the importance of Fam172a and lactate in the development of obesity. Overall design: To illustrate the mechanism how Fam172a regulate diet induced obesity, we did gene-expression profiles of neuro2a cells treated with ADV-shCtrl or ADV-sh Fam172a were analyzed.