Résumé
The vascular system distributes nutrients and oxygen to tissues. Endothelial cells (EC’s) define the vessel wall, thus they are ideally located to modulate nutrient availability and act as metabolic gatekeepers of the organism. Mitochondrial dynamics represents a bioenergetic adaptation to metabolic cellular demands. Our hypothesis is that mitochondrial fusion in EC’s is implicated in energy balance and metabolic control.
To address this we generated mice lacking Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2), a GTPase-like protein implicated in mitochondrial fusion, specifically in EC’s into adulthood (Mfn2ΔEC). Mfn2 ablation in EC’s progressively reduced body weight by 25%. No differences in food intake, intestinal nutrient absorption or locomotor activity were recorded in Mfn2ΔEC mice. However, enhanced energy expenditure was observed in mutant mice. Mfn2ΔEC mice also exhibited improved glucose metabolism. Consistently, mutant mice showed resistance to diet-induced obesity. Our data suggest that mitochondrial dynamics in EC’s is implicated in systemic energy homeostasis control in mice.