A putative role for apelin in the etiology of obesity

Apelin, the endogenous ligand of the G protein-coupled APJ receptor has been shown to promote tumor angiogenesis. However, the effect of apelin on inducing angiogenesis in adipose tissue has not been investigated. In this review, we propose a putative role for apelin in promoting angiogenesis in adipose tissue. We further propose that targeting adipose tissue vasculature by blocking apelin signaling with anti-apelin antibodies will lead not only to inhibition of angiogenesis in adipose tissue but also to decreased adiposity.