# ASPROSIN NEUTRALIZATION AS A NOVEL ANTI-OBESITY TREATMENT

> **NIH NIH R01** · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $408,044

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The ability to survive periods without food is the cornerstone of evolution and life on earth. Mammals respond
to fasting by activating mechanisms that stimulate appetite, while at the same time increasing hepatic glucose
production in order to keep the brain nourished and alert while exogenous calories are sought and acquired.
This is accomplished through a cascade of enzymatic reactions and processes in the brain and the liver that
are precisely coordinated by an array of hormones.
We recently discovered a protein hormone called asprosin that regulates mammalian glucose homeostasis.
Since then, we have found that asprosin also regulates appetite by activating orexigenic AgRP neurons in the
arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. This results in downstream anorexigenic POMC neuron inhibition, in a
GABA-dependent manner. This asprosin-mediated chain of events leads to appetite stimulation and a drive to
accumulate adiposity and body weight. Genetic deficiency of asprosin in humans results in a syndrome
characterized by low appetite and extreme leanness, phenocopied by mice carrying similar mutations, and fully
rescued by correcting the asprosin deficiency. Obese humans and mice display pathologically elevated
circulating asprosin levels, and neutralization of plasma asprosin using monoclonal antibodies reduces appetite
and body weight in such mice, in addition to improving their glycemic profile. Thus, asprosin, in addition to
performing a glucogenic function, is an orexigenic hormone, and anti-asprosin antibodies show therapeutic
potential as dual-action anti-obesity/anti-diabetes agents. This proposal seeks to build on these observations
with a broad aim of enhancing our understanding of asprosin's orexigenic effect and the anti-obesity potential
of asprosin-neutralization therapy. We seek to do so within the following 3 aims: 1) Determine the contribution
of adipose-derived asprosin on AgRP neuron activation. 2) Determine the necessity and sufficiency of the SK3-
mediated outward potassium current on asprosin-mediated AgRP neuron activation and appetite stimulation.
3) Map the anti-obesity potential of anti-asprosin monoclonal antibodies. At the completion of these aims we
expect to determine the relevance of asprosin on central regulation of appetite and adiposity, and how this
process can be manipulated to therapeutically impact obesity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9959433
- **Project number:** 5R01DK118290-03
- **Recipient organization:** CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Atul Chopra
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $408,044
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-10 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9959433

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9959433, ASPROSIN NEUTRALIZATION AS A NOVEL ANTI-OBESITY TREATMENT (5R01DK118290-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9959433. Licensed CC0.

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