Lobular architecture of human adipose tissue defines the niche and fate of progenitor cells.

Human adipose tissue (hAT) is constituted of structural units termed lobules, the organization of which remains to be defined. Here we report that lobules are composed of two extracellular matrix compartments, i.e., septa and stroma, delineating niches of CD45-/CD34+/CD31- progenitor subsets characterized by MSCA1 (ALPL) and CD271 (NGFR) expression. MSCA1+ adipogenic subset is enriched in stroma while septa contains mainly MSCA1-/CD271- and MSCA1-/CD271high progenitors. CD271 marks myofibroblast precursors and NGF ligand activation is a molecular relay of TGFß-induced myofibroblast conversion. In human subcutaneous (SC) and visceral (VS) AT, the progenitor subset repartition is different, modulated by obesity and in favor of adipocyte and myofibroblast fate, respectively. Lobules exhibit depot-specific architecture with marked fibrous septa containing mesothelial-like progenitor cells in VSAT. Thus, the human AT lobule organization in specific progenitor subset domains defines the fat depot intrinsic capacity to remodel and may contribute to obesity-associated cardiometabolic risks.

Immune cells in adipose tissue: key players in metabolic disorders.

Obesity, defined as the excess development of adipose tissue, is an important risk factor for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis. Over the past few years, metabolic inflammation has emerged as a major process underlying the link between obesity and its associated pathologies. Adipose tissue appears to play a primary and crucial role as a source and site of inflammation. Accumulation of immune cells within adipose tissue occurs in obese conditions. The present review focuses on the relationship between adipose tissue and immune cells, including macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, and natural killer cells, in both the physiological state and under obese conditions. The factors involved in the accumulation of both myeloid and lymphoid cells in adipose tissue are also described. In addition, the role of adipose-tissue immune cells on adipocyte metabolism and cells of the adipose tissue stromal-vascular fraction are discussed, with particular emphasis on the cross-talk between macrophages and adipocytes, together with recent reports of T lymphocytes in adipose tissue.

Expression and secretion of the novel adipokine tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase from adipose tissues of obese and lean women.

OBJECTIVE: Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) expressed by adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) induces mice obesity and human adipocyte differentiation in vitro. This study aimed to investigate whether TRAP was secreted differently from human obese versus lean adipose tissues and to identify the cellular source of adipose tissue TRAP. DESIGN: Subcutaneous adipose tissues obtained from healthy subjects. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for total (5a+5b) and cleaved TRAP (5b) were used. TRAP secretion was determined in adipose tissue biopsies, and mRNA expression was studied in cell types isolated from the same. SUBJECTS: Results of 24 lean and 24 obese women (in vitro) and 8 subjects (in vivo) were compared. The main outcome measurements were TRAP expression and secretion in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: In-house total TRAP ELISA showed high sensitivity and a coefficient of variance of 11%. Adipose secretion of total TRAP was linear in vitro with time and was evident in vivo. Total TRAP secretion in vitro was similar in lean and obese women expressed per unit weight of the adipose tissue but correlated positively with the number/size of adipocytes (P ≤ 0.01) and with adipose secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 (P<0.01). TRAP 5b was not secreted from the adipose tissue. ATMs displayed highest cellular expression of TRAP mRNA in adipose tissue cells derived from lean or obese women. CONCLUSIONS: TRAP is a novel human adipokine produced by macrophages and secreted from the subcutaneous adipose tissue in vivo and in vitro. Secretion is linked to the size and number of adipocytes, as well as to concomitant secretion of inflammatory mediators, suggesting that TRAP is involved in fat accumulation and adipose inflammation.

Remodeling phenotype of human subcutaneous adipose tissue macrophages.

BACKGROUND: Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) have become a focus of attention recently because they have been shown to accumulate with an increase in fat mass and to be involved in the genesis of insulin resistance in obese mice. However, the phenotype and functions of human ATMs are still to be defined. METHODS AND RESULTS: The present study, performed on human subcutaneous AT, showed that ATMs from lean to overweight individuals are composed of distinct macrophage subsets based on the expression of several cell surface markers: CD45, CD14, CD31, CD44, HLA-DR, CD206, and CD16, as assessed by flow cytometry. ATMs isolated by an immunoselection protocol showed a mixed expression of proinflammatory (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6 [IL-6], IL-23, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, IL-8, cyclooxygenase-2) and antiinflammatory (IL-10, transforming growth factor-beta, alternative macrophage activation-associated cc chemokine-1, cyclooxygenase-1) factors. Fat mass enlargement is associated with accumulation of the CD206+/CD16- macrophage subset that exhibits an M2 remodeling phenotype characterized by decreased expression of proinflammatory IL-8 and cyclooxygenase-2 and increased expression of lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1. ATMs specifically produced and released matrix metalloproteinase-9 compared with adipocytes and capillary endothelial cells, and secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-9 from human AT in vivo, assessed by arteriovenous difference measurement, was correlated with body mass index. Finally, ATMs exerted a marked proangiogenic effect on AT-derived endothelial and progenitor cells. CONCLUSIONS: The present results showed that the ATMs that accumulate with fat mass development exhibit a particular M2 remodeling phenotype. ATMs may be active players in the process of AT development through the extension of the capillary network and in the genesis of obesity-associated cardiovascular pathologies.

Post-exercise increase of lipid oxidation after a moderate exercise bout in untrained healthy obese men.

The aim of the study was to examine whether a moderate exercise increases the utilization of fatty acids during the recovery period in obese men. Six healthy obese participated in a randomized crossover investigation, one with exercise and one without exercise. At 8 a. m., the subjects had a standardized breakfast and they rested in a sitting position for 3 hours. The subjects were maintained in the sitting position for 4 additional hours in one session. In a second session, they exercised for 60 min at 50 % of their VO(2) max and then returned to the sitting position for 3 hours. Respiratory exchange ratio (RER) values were calculated by indirect calorimetry. During the resting session, plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and glycerol concentrations rose progressively, whereas RER progressively decreased. During the exercise, plasma catecholamines, NEFA, glycerol, growth hormone and cortisol levels and RER increased while insulin decreased. During the recovery, plasma NEFA increased and glycerol decreased. During the first hour of recovery, RER values were lower and fatty acid utilization higher than during the same period of the resting session. The study shows that exercise induces modifications in hormonal factors promoting lipid mobilization and suggests that exercise provide substantial amounts of NEFA for muscle oxidation during recovery from an exercise bout in obese subjects.

Brief preconditioning ischemia alters diacylglycerol content and composition in rabbit heart.

In order to give further insight into the potential role of PKC in the beneficial effects of ischemic preconditioning, we have characterized the production of diacylglycerol, the endogenous activator of PKC, and its molecular species composition in ischemic control and preconditioned hearts. Preconditioning was induced by 1 cycle of 5 min of ischemia followed by 5 min of reperfusion. In control and preconditioned groups, hearts were harvested under deep anesthesia at baseline (preischemia) and at 2, 5 and 10 min into the sustained coronary artery occlusion, i.e., preceding myocyte death. Diacylglycerol content and fatty acid composition were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively. Myocardial diacylglycerol content was increased at 2 min into the sustained ischemia in the control group (481 +/- 34 vs 292 +/- 64 ng x mg(-1) at baseline; p < 0.05), but was comparable to the baseline value at 5 and 10 min. In the preconditioned group, diacylglycerol production remained unchanged throughout the 10-min test ischemia (317 +/- 17 at 2 min vs 312 +/- 38 ng x mg(-1) at baseline; p = NS). A detailed analysis of the molecular species composition at the time of 2 min revealed a reduced contribution of phosphatidylinositol to diacylglycerol production in preconditioned myocardium (global correlation coefficient 0.57 vs 0.66 in control myocardium) with a trend toward an enrichment of diacylglycerol composition with some species originating from phosphatidylcholine. Thus, our study revealed that brief preconditioning ischemia: (1) prevents the increase of diacylglycerol content in the early minutes of the sustained ischemia, and (2) emphasizes the contribution of phosphatidylcholine in diacylglycerol formation to the detriment of that of phosphatidylinositol.

The priming effect of 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid on lymphocyte phospholipase D involves specific binding sites.

We have previously shown that 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12(S)-HETE)-enrichment primed human peripheral blood mononuclear cells for phospholipase D activation by mitogens. Given that 12(S)-HETE-enriched cells stimulated with concanavalin A released free 12(S)-HETE in the extracellular medium, and that the priming effect of 12(S)-HETE on phospholipase D was suppressed by the non-permeant drug, suramin, we hypothesized an extracellular mechanism for 12(S)-HETE-induced PLD activation. Using [3H]12(S)-HETE as a ligand and a rapid filtration technique, we have pointed out the presence of specific low-affinity 12(S)-HETE binding sites on intact human mononuclear cells and lymphocytes. [3H]12(S)-HETE binding was efficiently displaced by other monohydroxylated and n-3 fatty acids but not by oleate and arachidonate, and was also significantly inhibited by suramin and pertussis toxin. Furthermore, 12(S)-HETE-induced PLD activation was strongly inhibited by pertussis toxin and genistein, but was not PKC-dependent. In addition, 12(S)-HETE also potentiated the ConA-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of a 46-50 kDa protein, which was inhibited by genistein. Collectively, these results suggest that 12(S)-HETE binding sites on human lymphocytes may be coupled to phospholipase D through pertussis toxin sensitive G-proteins and tyrosine kinases.

Relationships between phosphatidic acid and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases in activated human blood mononuclear cells.

We have previously shown that mitogenic activation of human PBMC rapidly increases both the intracellular phosphatidic acid (PA) level and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity, with time-course responses, suggesting a causative relationship between the two events. PA also directly stimulated cAMP-PDE activity in acellular systems. Thus the mitogenic properties of PA night be due to its ability to lower the level of cAMP, a negative effector of lymphocyte activation, through PDE activation. In this study, human PBMC were stimulated either with the mitogenic lectin ConA, the anti-CD3 mAb OKT3, or the phorbol ester TPA. All three agonists increased the radiolabeled PA level and the PA mass in treated cells and simultaneously increased cytosolic and particulate cAMP- and cGMP-PDE activities, with significant positive correlations between PA accumulation and PDE activities. Furthermore, the ConA-induced PDE activation was dose-dependently reduced by treatment of PBMC with the diacylglycerol-kinase inhibitor R59022. This compound also dose-dependently lowered the PA level and inhibited the proliferative response to ConA. In addition, TPA-induced PDE activation was totally abolished by ethanol, which strongly reduced PA accumulation in response to the phorbol ester. These data suggest that PA increase may be linked to mitogen-induced PDE activation. Experiments performed in the presence of rolipram indicated that ConA and TPA stimulated both the rolipram-sensitive PDE4 and the rolipram-insensitive PDE activities, OKT3 being more active on PDE4. All three agonists stimulated the cGMP-specific PDE5. These results suggest that PA is an important component of the mechanisms that maintain a low level of cyclic nucleotides, which is a prerequisite for an optimal lymphoproliferative response.