Maintenance of systemic homeostasis and the response to nutritional and environmental challenges require the coordination of multiple organs and tissues. To respond to various metabolic demands, higher organisms have developed a system of inter-organ communication through which one tissue can affect metabolic pathways in a distant tissue. Dysregulation of these lines of communication contributes to human pathologies, including obesity, diabetes, liver disease and atherosclerosis. In recent years, technical advances such as data-driven bioinformatics, proteomics and lipidomics have enabled efforts to understand the complexity of systemic metabolic cross-talk and its underlying mechanisms. Here, we provide an overview of inter-organ signals and their roles in metabolic control, and highlight recent discoveries in the field. We review peptide, small-molecule and lipid mediators secreted by metabolic tissues, as well as the role of the central nervous system in orchestrating peripheral metabolic functions. Finally, we discuss the contributions of inter-organ signalling networks to the features of metabolic syndrome.

维持全身稳态以及对营养和环境挑战的反应需要多个器官和组织的协调。为了响应各种代谢需求，高等生物已经开发出一种器官间通讯系统，一个组织可以通过该系统影响远处组织中的代谢途径。这些交流线路的失调会导致人类疾病，包括肥胖、糖尿病、肝病和动脉粥样硬化。近年来，数据驱动的生物信息学、蛋白质组学和脂质组学等技术进步使人们能够努力了解系统代谢串扰的复杂性及其潜在机制。在这里，我们概述了器官间信号及其在代谢控制中的作用，并重点介绍了该领域的最新发现。我们回顾肽，代谢组织分泌的小分子和脂质介质，以及中枢神经系统在协调外周代谢功能中的作用。最后，我们讨论了器官间信号网络对代谢综合征特征的贡献。