Work

YY1/Asprosin/PFKP axis regulates glycolytic metabolic and exacerbates pathological cardiac hypertrophy

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: In hypertrophic and failing hearts, fuel metabolism is reprogrammed toward enhanced glycolysis. Here, we identify asprosin, an adipokine, as a critical regulator of this process in pathological cardiac hypertrophy. In patients, circulating asprosin levels correlate with NT-proBNP and EF. Cardiomyocyte-specific asprosin overexpression aggravates hypertrophy, abnormal glycolysis, and impairs mitochondrial ATP production in male mice, whereas its deficiency confers protection against TAC- or Ang II-induced remodeling in male/female mice. Mechanistically, asprosin binds PFKP and inhibits the K48-linked ubiquitination by DTX3L, thereby stabilizing PFKP and driving aberrant glycolysis, PDK4 induction, PDH inhibition, and impaired respiration. Genetic knockdown of PFKP mitigates hypertrophy and fibrosis in male mice, whereas PFKP overexpression abolishes the protective effects conferred by FBN1 knockdown. Moreover, YY1 is identified as a transcriptional activator of asprosin in the hypertrophic hearts of male mice. Here we show that the YY1–asprosin–PFKP–PDK4–PDH axis underlies metabolic remodeling, and we highlight plasma asprosin as a potential early biomarker and therapeutic target for cardiac dysfunction. Metabolic reprogramming toward glycolysis is a hallmark of pathological cardiac hypertrophy, but the regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here the authors show that the adipokine, asprosin, drives hypertrophic metabolic remodeling by stabilizing PFKP and activating a YY1–asprosin–PFKP–PDK4–PDH axis.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71197-2