Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37402735›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Chronic UCN2 treatment desensitizes CRHR2 and improves insulin sensitivity.

Stephen E Flaherty, Olivier Bezy, Wei Zheng, Dong Yan, Xiangping Li, Srinath Jagarlapudi, Bina Albuquerque, Ryan M Esquejo, Matthew Peloquin, Meriem Semache and 15 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Exploration (Beijing, China) · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Stress: A Hormetic Perspective.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025
    Review
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

25 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Stephen E Flaherty *Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5050-6451
Olivier Bezy *Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Wei ZhengInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Dong YanInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Xiangping LiInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Srinath JagarlapudiInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Bina AlbuquerqueInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Ryan M EsquejoInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Matthew PeloquinInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Meriem SemacheDomain Therapeutics North America, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Arturo ManciniDomain Therapeutics North America, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Liya KangInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Doreen DrujanInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Susanne B BreitkopfInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
John D GriffinInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Pierre M Jean BeltranMachine Learning and Computational Sciences, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5106-0992
Liang XueMachine Learning and Computational Sciences, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3606-4615
John StansfieldBiostatistics, Early Clinical Development, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Evanthia PashosInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Quazi ShakeyBiomedicine design, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Christian PehmøllerInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7102-7727
Mara MonettiInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Morris J BirnbaumInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Jean-Philippe FortinInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Zhidan WuInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA. Zhidan.wu@pfizer.com.ORCID 0000-0001-7289-9420
Pfizer (United States) · USAegera Therapeutics (Canada) · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Urocortin 2 (UCN2) acts as a ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRHR2). UCN2 has been reported to improve or worsen insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in vivo. Here we show that acute dosing of UCN2 induces systemic insulin resistance in male mice and skeletal muscle. Inversely, chronic elevation of UCN2 by injection with adenovirus encoding UCN2 resolves metabolic complications, improving glucose tolerance. CRHR2 recruits Gs in response to low concentrations of UCN2, as well as Gi and β-Arrestin at high concentrations of UCN2. Pre-treating cells and skeletal muscle ex vivo with UCN2 leads to internalization of CRHR2, dampened ligand-dependent increases in cAMP, and blunted reductions in insulin signaling. These results provide mechanistic insights into how UCN2 regulates insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle and in vivo. Importantly, a working model was derived from these results that unifies the contradictory metabolic effects of UCN2.

Indexed as

Insulin ResistanceAnimalsCorticotropin-Releasing HormoneGlucoseInsulinLigandsMaleMiceReceptors, Corticotropin-Releasing HormoneUrocortinsCorticotropin-Releasing HormoneCRF receptor type 2GlucoseInsulinLigandsReceptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormoneurocortin 2, mouseUrocortins

Identifiers

PMID37402735
PMCPMC10319809
OpenAlexW4383069838

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.