Hypothalamic proteome changes in response to nicotine and its withdrawal are potentially associated with alteration in body weight

Nicotine, a major addictive component in tobacco, plays an important role in the changes of body weight upon smoking and its cessation. Here we showed that nicotine-treated mice exhibited weight loss and nicotine withdrawal led to weight gain. Using TMT-based proteomic analysis, we obtained the different hypothalamic protein profiles in response to nicotine and its withdrawal. A total of 5000 proteins were identified from the hypothalamus with 50 altered proteins upon 28 -day nicotine treatment and 28 altered proteins upon 15-day nicotine withdrawal. Of the altered proteins, CASP3, LCMT2, GRIN2D, CCNT2, FADS3 and MRPS18B were inversely changed in response to nicotine and withdrawal, coincidence with the change of body weight. Of them, CASP3, LCMT2, GRIN2D and CCNT2 were found to be associated with several GO terms and KEGG pathways linking with cell apoptosis, neurotransmission and metabolism. Further Western blot and RT-qPCR analyses confirmed that the levels of the 4 proteins CASP3, LCMT2, GRIN2D and CCNT2, instead of their mRNA transcripts, altered in response to nicotine and withdrawal. Thus this study provides nicotine- and withdrawal-induced hypothalamic protein profiles and suggests potential roles of these altered proteins in the change of body weight. Significance: Cigarette smoking is one of important factors harming human health. Most smokers tend to have lower body weights and smoking cessation often lead to overweight or obesity, which is an important reason for smokers to insist on smoking. It is known that nicotine, a critical component in tobacco, is associated with the alteration in body weight by affecting hypothalamic function. Through TMT-based proteomic analysis, this study identified differential hypothalamic protein profiles in response to nicotine treatment and its withdrawal, and 4 nicotine- and withdrawal-induced contrary proteins CASP3, LCMT2, GRIN2D and CCNT2 are involved in several enriched GO terms and KEGG pathways, which are associated with cell apoptosis, neurotransmission and metabolism. Our study may provide novel targets for further investigation of the molecular mechanisms of nicotine- and withdrawal-induced alteration in body weight.