Feedback Inhibition of Leptin Receptor/Jak2 Signaling via Tyr1138 of the Leptin Receptor and Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3

Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that communicates the status of body energy stores to the brain to regulate feeding and energy balance. The inability of elevated leptin levels to adequately suppress feeding in obesity suggests attenuation of leptin action under these conditions; the activation of feedback circuits due to high leptin levels could contribute to this leptin resistance. Using cultured cells exogenously expressing the long form of the leptin receptor (LRb) or an erythropoietin receptor/LRb chimera, we show that chronic stimulation results in the attenuation of LRb signaling and the establishment of a state in which the receptor is refractory to reactivation. Mutation of LRb Tyr1138 (the site that recruits signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) alleviated this feedback inhibition, suggesting that signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 mediates the induction of a feedback inhibitor, such as suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), during chronic LRb stimulation...