ArticleExperimental & molecular medicine2026
Targeting COL6A3-C5 with nigericin suppresses endotrophin formation and enhances insulin sensitivity in obesity.
Article in Experimental & molecular medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Endotrophin, a cleavage product of collagen VIα3 (COL6A3), contributes to fibroinflammation in adipose tissue and exacerbates systemic insulin resistance in obesity. Previously, we demonstrated that various hypoxia-induced matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are directly involved in the cleavage of COL6A3 to generate endotrophin in obese adipose tissue; thus, inhibition of endotrophin generation by blocking MMP access could be beneficial for treating obesity-related metabolic disease. Here we identified nigericin as an inhibitor of endotrophin generation, which improves fibroinflammation and insulin sensitivity in both hypoxic adipocytes in vitro and diet-induced obese mice in vivo. Mechanistically, nigericin directly binds to the COL6A3-C5 domain, competing with MMPs and thereby disrupting the interactions between the COL6A3-C5 domain and MMPs. This interference prevents the cleavage of endotrophin from the COL6A3 by MMPs, ultimately inhibiting its generation. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that pharmacological blockade of endotrophin cleavage, by using nigericin, effectively decreases endotrophin levels and improves endotrophin-mediated fibroinflammation and insulin resistance in obesity. Furthermore, this new therapeutic strategy could be applied to various metabolic diseases and solid tumors where endotrophin levels are pathologically elevated.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.