ADGRL1 is a glucose receptor involved in mediating energy and glucose homeostasis

• Published in: Diabetologia Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 170 - 189
• Main Authors: Chhabra, Kavaljit H., Bathina, Siresha, Faniyan, Tumininu S., Samuel, Dennis J., Raza, Muhammad Ummear, de Souza Cordeiro, Leticia Maria, Viana Di Prisco, Gonzalo, Atwood, Brady K., Robles, Jorge, Bainbridge, Lauren, Davis, Autumn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-01-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Affinity chromatography; Animals; Biotin; Chemoreception; Cricetinae; Cricetulus; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Electrophysiology; Energy; Energy balance; Energy Metabolism - genetics; Extended; Extended Article; Fasting; Female; G protein-coupled receptors; Glucose; Glucose - metabolism; Glucose transporter; Homeostasis; Homeostasis - physiology; Human Physiology; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Hypothalamus; Hypothalamus (ventromedial); Insulin resistance; Insulin secretion; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Na+/glucose cotransporter; Obesity; Obesity - metabolism; Ovariectomy; Phenotypes; Physical activity; Proteomics; Signal transduction; Obesity; Glucose receptor; Diabetes; Hypothalamus; Mouse models; Glucose sensing
• ISSN: 0012-186X; 1432-0428; 1432-0428
• DOI: 10.1007/s00125-023-06010-6

Aims/hypothesis
The brain is a major consumer of glucose as an energy source and regulates systemic glucose as well as energy balance. Although glucose transporters such as GLUT2 and sodium−glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) are known to regulate glucose homeostasis and metabolism, the identity of a receptor that binds glucose to activate glucose signalling pathways in the brain is unknown. In this study, we aimed to discover a glucose receptor in the mouse hypothalamus.
Methods
Here we used a high molecular mass glucose–biotin polymer to enrich glucose-bound mouse hypothalamic neurons through cell-based affinity chromatography. We then subjected the enriched neurons to proteomic analyses and identified adhesion G-protein coupled receptor 1 (ADGRL1) as a top candidate for a glucose receptor. We validated glucose–ADGRL1 interactions using CHO cells stably expressing human ADGRL1 and ligand–receptor binding assays. We generated and determined the phenotype of global
Adgrl1-
knockout mice and hypothalamus-specific
Adgrl1
-deficient mice. We measured the variables related to glucose and energy homeostasis in these mice. We also generated an
Adgrl1
Cre
mouse model to investigate the role of ADGRL1 in sensing glucose using electrophysiology.
Results
Adgrl1
is highly expressed in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) in mice. Lack of
Adgrl1
in the VMH in mice caused fasting hyperinsulinaemia, enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and insulin resistance. In addition, the
Adgrl1
-deficient mice had impaired feeding responses to glucose and fasting coupled with abnormal glucose sensing and decreased physical activity before development of obesity and hyperglycaemia. In female mice, ovariectomy was necessary to reveal the contribution of ADGRL1 to energy and glucose homeostasis.
Conclusions/interpretation
Altogether, our findings demonstrate that ADGRL1 binds glucose and is involved in energy as well as glucose homeostasis in a sex-dependent manner. Targeting ADGRL1 may introduce a new class of drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Graphical Abstract