Recombinant Human Meteorin-like protein (METRNL)

Function

Hormone induced following exercise or cold exposure that promotes energy expenditure. Induced either in the skeletal muscle after exercise or in adipose tissue following cold exposure and is present in the circulation. Able to stimulate energy expenditure associated with the browning of the white fat depots and improves glucose tolerance. Does not promote an increase in a thermogenic gene program via direct action on adipocytes, but acts by stimulating several immune cell subtypes to enter the adipose tissue and activate their prothermogenic actions. Stimulates an eosinophil-dependent increase in IL4 expression and promotes alternative activation of adipose tissue macrophages, which are required for the increased expression of the thermogenic and anti-inflammatory gene programs in fat. Required for some cold-induced thermogenic responses, suggesting a role in metabolic adaptations to cold temperatures (By similarity)

Subcellular Location

Secreted

Tissue Specificity

Highly expressed in the skeletal muscle, in subcutaneous adipose tissue, epididymal white adipose tissue depots and heart. Also expressed in brown adipose tissues and kidney

• Ota T. et al. Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs. — Nat. Genet. (2004)
• Zody M.C. et al. DNA sequence of human chromosome 17 and analysis of rearrangement in the human lineage. — Nature (2006)
• The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC). — Genome Res. (2004)
• Rao R.R. et al. Meteorin-like is a hormone that regulates immune-adipose interactions to increase beige fat thermogenesis. — Cell (2014)
• Li Z.Y. et al. Subfatin is a novel adipokine and unlike Meteorin in adipose and brain expression. — CNS Neurosci. Ther. (2014)