Repression of adipose Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor reduces obesity through adipose browning

Obesity is the results of excessive energy accumulation and associated with many diseases. We previously reported that universal repression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) leads to brown-like adipocyte development in white adipose tissues and mice are resistant to obesity. Using an adipose-specific VEGF repression mouse model (aP2-rtTR-krabtg/+/VEGFtetO/tetO), we show that adipose-specific VEGF repression can repeat the previous phenotypes including adipose browning, increased energy consumption and reduction in body weight. Expression of brown adipose-associated genes are increased and white adipose-associated genes are down regulated. Our study demonstrates that adipose-specific VEGF repression can lead to an anti-obesity activity through adipose browning and have potential clinical values.