972-Skin-Hypothalamus in Heat-Induced Metabolic Dysfunction

Paper Talk · May 15, 2026 · 23m

Research identifies a novel skin-hypothalamus axis that explains how repeated heat stress causes long-term metabolic dysfunction. The study reveals that heat exposure triggers the release of the protein KLK14 from the skin, which travels through the blood to the brain and induces lasting epigenetic changes in hypothalamic LRRC7⁺ astrocytes. These reprogrammed astrocytes suppress specific neurons in the paraventricular nucleus, ultimately reducing sympathetic nervous system activity and impairing the body's ability to burn fat. This "heat memory" makes individuals more susceptible to obesity…