Reversible expansion of tissue macrophages in response to macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1) transforms systemic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.

Macrophages regulate metabolic homeostasis in health and disease. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF1)-dependent macrophages contribute to homeostatic control of the size of the liver. This study aimed to determine the systemic metabolic consequences of elevating circulating CSF1. Acute administration of a CSF1-Fc fusion protein to mice led to monocytosis, increased resident tissue macrophages in the liver and all major organs, and liver growth. These effects were associated with increased hepatic glucose uptake and extensive mobilization of body fat. The impacts of CSF1 on macrophage abundance, liver size, and body composition were rapidly reversed to restore homeostasis. The effects of CSF1 on metabolism were independent of several known endocrine regulators and did not impact the physiological fasting response. Analysis using implantable telemetry in metabolic cages revealed progressively reduced body temperature and physical activity with no change in diurnal food intake. These results demonstrate the existence of a dynamic equilibrium between CSF1, the mononuclear phagocyte system, and control of liver-to-body weight ratio, which in turn controls systemic metabolic homeostasis. This novel macrophage regulatory axis has the potential to promote fat mobilization, without changes in appetence, which may have novel implications for managing metabolic syndrome.NEW & NOTEWORTHY CSF1 administration expands tissue macrophages, which transforms systemic metabolism. CSF1 drives fat mobilization and glucose uptake to support liver growth. The effects of CSF1 are independent of normal hormonal metabolic regulation. The effects of CSF1 are rapidly reversible, restoring homeostatic body composition. CSF1-dependent macrophages and liver size are coupled in a dynamic equilibrium.

The Biology of Lipids.

Lipids are the defining features of cellular membranes. They act collectively to form a variety of different structures, and understanding their complex behavior represents an early example of systems biology. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to analyse the functions of lipids in biological systems, and new work is providing fascinating insights into their roles in membrane biology, metabolism, signaling, subcellular dynamics and various disease processes.

Single molecule visualization of tropomyosin isoform organization in the mammalian actin cytoskeleton.

The actin cytoskeleton is composed of both branched and unbranched actin filaments. In mammals, the unbranched actin filaments are primarily copolymers of actin and tropomyosin. Biochemical and imaging studies indicate that different tropomyosin isoforms are segregated to different actin filament populations in cells and tissues, providing isoform-specific functionality to the actin filament. Intrinsic to this model is the prediction that single-molecule imaging of tropomyosin isoforms would confirm homopolymer formation along the length of single actin filaments, a knowledge gap that remains unaddressed in the cellular environment. We combined chemical labeling of genetically engineered tropomyosin isoforms with electron tomography to locate individual tropomyosin molecules in fibroblasts. We find that the organization of two non-muscle tropomyosins, Tpm3.1 with Tpm4.2, can be distinguished from each other using light and electron microscopy. Visualization of single tropomyosin molecules associated with actin filaments supports the hypothesis that tropomyosins form continuous homopolymers, instead of heteropolymers, in the presence of all physiologically native actin-binding proteins. This is true for both isoforms tested. Furthermore, the data suggest that the tropomyosin molecules on one side of an actin filament may not be in register with those on the opposite side, indicating that each tropomyosin polymer may assembly independently.

The desmosome-intermediate filament system facilitates mechanotransduction at adherens junctions for epithelial homeostasis.

Epithelial homeostasis can be critically influenced by how cells respond to mechanical forces, both local changes in force balance between cells and altered tissue-level forces.1 Coupling of specialized cell-cell adhesions to their cytoskeletons provides epithelia with diverse strategies to respond to mechanical stresses.2,3,4 Desmosomes confer tissue resilience when their associated intermediate filaments (IFs)2,3 stiffen in response to strain,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 while mechanotransduction associated with the E-cadherin apparatus12,13 at adherens junctions (AJs) actively modulates actomyosin by RhoA signaling. Although desmosomes and AJs make complementary contributions to mechanical homeostasis in epithelia,6,8 there is increasing evidence to suggest that these cytoskeletal-adhesion systems can interact functionally and biochemically.8,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 We now report that the desmosome-IF system integrated by desmoplakin (DP) facilitates active tension sensing at AJs for epithelial homeostasis. DP function is necessary for mechanosensitive RhoA signaling at AJs to be activated when tension was applied to epithelial monolayers. This effect required DP to anchor IFs to desmosomes and recruit the dystonin (DST) cytolinker to apical junctions. DP RNAi reduced the mechanical load that was applied to the cadherin complex by increased monolayer tension. Consistent with reduced mechanical signal strength, DP RNAi compromised assembly of the Myosin VI-E-cadherin mechanosensor that activates RhoA. The integrated DP-IF system therefore supports AJ mechanotransduction by enhancing the mechanical load of tissue tension that is transmitted to E-cadherin. This crosstalk was necessary for efficient elimination of apoptotic epithelial cells by apical extrusion, demonstrating its contribution to epithelial homeostasis.