Prohibitin: An unexpected role in sex dimorphic functions

Abstract

Sex differences are known to exist in adipose and immune functions in the body, and sex steroid hormones are known to be involved in sexually dimorphic biological and pathological processes related to adipose-immune interaction. However, our knowledge of proteins that mediate such differences is poor. Two novel obese mice models, Mito-Ob and m-Mito-Ob, that have been reported recently have revealed an unexpected role of a pleiotropic protein, prohibitin (PHB), in sex differences in adipose and immune functions. This discovery points towards a role of pleiotropic proteins and their potential interplay with sex steroid hormones in mediating sexually dimorphic adipose-immune interaction.