Monireh Dashty
The LKB1/AMPK/TSC/mTORC1 cassette constitutes a canonical signaling pathway that integrates the metabolic and nutrient status of the cell for regulation of cell growth and survival and would thus be expected to be of critical importance in adipose tissue; the main organ in the body dealing with energy homeostasis. Indeed it has now become clear that changes in AMPK activity, and to a lesser extent in Akt/PKB, guides almost every process in this tissue and that modulation of the activity of the nutrient signaling cassette offers a wide range of option to deal with metabolic diseases. Here I review the current body of biomedical literature on nutrient signaling in adipose tissue and show that although the effects involved are highly cell type specific in general, pharmacological AMPK activation seems the way forward losses in adiposity. It should thus prove exceedingly interesting to watch the results of clinical trial in obese subjects treated with AMPK analogues.