Biomedical subjects

Robert R Bowers

Publications and source records attributed to Robert R Bowers.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

BMP-4 treatment of C3H10T1/2 stem cells blocks expression of MMP-3 and MMP-13.

Microarray gene expression profiling was used to identify bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) responsive factors involved in late stages of adipocyte commitment in C3H10T1/2 cells. The analysis revealed that the matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) gene decreased 100-fold after BMP-4 treatment, and expression of MMP-13 decreased 19.5-fold. Uncommitted C3H10T1/2 cells exhibit dramatic up-regulation of MMP-3 and MMP-13 genes as cells become confluent. Real-time RT-PCR demonstrated that BMP-4 blocks expression of both transcripts. Likewise, a stable committed preadipocyte line derived from C3H10T1/2 cells did not express MMP-3 or MMP-13 at confluence, despite never receiving BMP-4. Active forms of both proteins were detected in media from confluent C3H10T1/2 cells but not in BMP-4 treated cells. Addition of BMP-4 to confluent C3H10T1/2 cells repressed the expression of both genes but did not induce adipocyte differentiation. The findings indicate that BMP-4-induced down-regulation of MMP-3 and MMP-13 is associated with commitment, but is insufficient to induce adipogenesis.

3T3-L1 Cells↗

PubMed2006

Stable stem cell commitment to the adipocyte lineage by inhibition of DNA methylation: role of the BMP-4 gene.

Previous studies showed that exposure of C3H10T1/2 stem cells to bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) produced cells that convert into adipocytes at high frequency when treated with differentiation inducers. In the present investigation, an independent approach shows that BMP-4 is required for stable commitment of pluripotent stem cells to the adipocyte lineage. Exposure of proliferating 10T1/2 stem cells to 5-azacytidine, a potent DNA methylation inhibitor, gave rise to a subpopulation of cells that can be cloned and that have the capacity to undergo conversion into adipocytes upon treatment with terminal differentiation inducers. Detailed studies performed with a cloned committed subline, the A33 line, verified stable adipocyte lineage determination in the absence of exogenous BMP-4. Remarkably, this cell line expresses and secretes BMP-4 during proliferation in the same time window that exogenous BMP-4 must be added to naïve 10T1/2 cells to induce maximal adipocyte commitment. Furthermore, exposure of A33 cells to noggin, a naturally occurring BMP-4-binding antagonist, during this critical time window blocks subsequent differentiation. The role of BMP-4 in adipocyte lineage commitment is further strengthened by gene expression profiling of proliferating 10T1/2 stem cells and A33 preadipocytes. These findings revealed changes in the molecular circuitry, specifically coordinated changes in the expression of members of the BMP-4 signaling pathway, that distinguish A33 preadipocytes from uncommitted parental 10T1/2 stem cells. Together, these studies provide compelling evidence for the participation of BMP-4 in adipocyte lineage determination.

Adipocytes↗

PubMed2006

White adipose tissue lacks significant vagal innervation and immunohistochemical evidence of parasympathetic innervation.

Converging evidence indicates that white adipose tissue (WAT) is innervated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) based on immunohistochemical labeling of a SNS marker (tyrosine hydroxylase [TH]), tract tracing of WAT sympathetic postganglionic innervation, pseudorabies virus (PRV) transneuronal labeling of WAT SNS outflow neurons, and functional evidence from denervation studies. Recently, WAT para-SNS (PSNS) innervation was suggested because local surgical WAT sympathectomy (sparing hypothesized parasympathetic innervation) followed by PRV injection yielded infected cells in the vagal dorsomotor nucleus (DMV), a traditionally-recognized PSNS brain stem site. In addition, local surgical PSNS WAT denervation triggered WAT catabolic responses. We tested histologically whether WAT was parasympathetically innervated by searching for PSNS markers in rat, and normal (C57BL) and obese (ob/ob) mouse WAT. Vesicular acetylcholine transporter, vasoactive intestinal peptide and neuronal nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivities were absent in WAT pads (retroperitoneal, epididymal, inguinal subcutaneous) from all animals. Nearly all nerves innervating WAT vasculature and parenchyma that were labeled with protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5; pan-nerve marker) also contained TH, attesting to pervasive SNS innervation. When Siberian hamster inguinal WAT was sympathetically denervated via local injections of catecholaminergic toxin 6-hydroxydopamine (sparing putative parasympathetic nerves), subsequent PRV injection resulted in no central nervous system (CNS) or sympathetic chain infections suggesting no PSNS innervation. By contrast, vehicle-injected WAT subsequently inoculated with PRV had typical CNS/sympathetic chain viral infection patterns. Collectively, these data indicate no parasympathetic nerve markers in WAT of several species, with sparse DMV innervation and question the claim of PSNS WAT innervation as well as its functional significance.

Adipose Tissue, White↗

PubMed2005

Sympathetic denervation does not prevent a reduction in fat pad size of rats or mice treated with peripherally administered leptin.

Leptin increases sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity in brown adipose tissue and renal nerves. Experiments described here tested whether SNS innervation is required for peripheral, physiological concentrations of leptin to reduce body fat. In experiment 1, one epididymal (EPI) fat pad was sympathectomized by local injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6OHDA) in C57BL/6 mice that were then infused for 13 days with PBS or 10 microg leptin/day from an intraperitoneal miniosmotic pump. Surprisingly, EPI denervation increased total body fat of PBS-infused mice but leptin decreased the size of both injected and noninjected EPI pads in 6OHDA mice. Experiment 2 was identical except for the use of male Sprague-Dawley rats that were infused with 50 microg leptin/day. Leptin had little effect on EPI weight or norepinephrine (NE) content, but denervation of one EPI pad decreased the effect of leptin on intact EPI, inguinal and retroperitoneal (RP) fat and increased the size of the mesenteric fat pad. Experiment 3 included groups in which either one EPI or one RP pad was denervated. RP denervation reduced RP NE content but did not prevent a leptin-induced reduction in fat pad mass. Therefore, the SNS is not required for low doses of leptin to reduce body fat. EPI denervation significantly increased adipocyte number in contralateral EPI and RP fat pads and this was prevented by leptin. These changes in intact pads of rats with one denervated fat pad imply communication between fat depots and suggest that both leptin and the SNS regulate the size of individual depots.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed2005

Brain-adipose tissue cross talk.

While investigating the reversible seasonal obesity of Siberian hamsters, direct sympathetic nervous system (SNS) postganglionic innervation of white adipose tissue (WAT) has been demonstrated using anterograde and retrograde tract tracers. The primary function of this innervation is lipid mobilization. The brain SNS outflow to WAT has been defined using the pseudorabies virus (PRV), a retrograde transneuronal tract tracer. These PRV-labelled SNS outflow neurons are extensively co-localized with melanocortin-4 receptor mRNA, which, combined with functional data, suggests their involvement in lipolysis. The SNS innervation of WAT also regulates fat cell number, as noradrenaline inhibits and WAT denervation stimulates fat cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo respectively. The sensory innervation of WAT has been demonstrated by retrograde tract tracing, electrophysiological recording and labelling of the sensory-associated neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide in WAT. Local injections of the sensory nerve neurotoxin capsaicin into WAT selectively destroy this innervation. Just as surgical removal of WAT pads triggers compensatory increases in lipid accretion by non-excised WAT depots, capsaicin-induced sensory denervation triggers increases in lipid accretion of non-capsaicin-injected WAT depots, suggesting that these nerves convey information about body fat levels to the brain. Finally, parasympathetic nervous system innervation of WAT has been suggested, but the recent finding of no WAT immunoreactivity for the possible parasympathetic marker vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) argues against this claim. Collectively, these data suggest several roles for efferent and afferent neural innervation of WAT in body fat regulation.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed2005

Short photoperiod exposure increases adipocyte sensitivity to noradrenergic stimulation in Siberian hamsters.

Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) exhibit a naturally occurring, reversible seasonal obesity with body fat peaking in long "summerlike" days (LDs) and reaching a nadir in short "winterlike" days (SDs). These SD-induced decreases in adiposity are mediated largely via sympathetic nervous system (SNS) innervation of white adipose tissue (WAT), as indicated by increased WAT norepinephrine (NE) turnover. We examined whether SDs also increase sensitivity to NE-stimulated lipolysis. This was accomplished by measuring NE- and beta3-adrenoceptor (beta3-AR) agonist (BRL-37344)-induced lipolysis (glycerol release) as well as NE-induced cAMP accumulation by inguinal, epididymal, and retroperitoneal WAT (IWAT, EWAT, and RWAT) in isolated adipocytes of LD- and SD-housed hamsters. SDs increased potency/efficacy of NE-triggered lipolysis in a temporally and fat pad-specific manner. Thus when WAT pad mass decreased most rapidly (5 wk of SDs), potency (sensitivity/EC50) and efficacy (maximal response asymptote) of NE-stimulated lipolysis were increased for all WAT pads and also at 10 wk for IWAT compared with their LD counterparts. SD enhancement of lipolysis was similar for NE and BRL-37344 in IWAT adipocytes. These results, coupled with our previous demonstration that SDs upregulate WAT beta3-AR mRNA expression, suggest that increased beta3-ARs mediated the SD-induced increased NE sensitivity. NE-stimulated adipocyte accumulation of cAMP was greater after 5 wk of SDs for IWAT and EWAT and after 10 wk of SDs for IWAT compared with LDs, with no photoperiod effect for RWAT. Therefore, the SD-induced increase in SNS drive to WAT and increased sensitivity to this drive may work together to increase lipolysis in SDs.

Adipocytes↗

PubMed2004

Norepinephrine turnover in brown and white adipose tissue after partial lipectomy.

Total body fat is restored after the surgical removal (i.e., partial lipectomy) of white adipose tissue (WAT), and this is accomplished via increases in the mass of nonexcised WAT pads. The underlying mechanism for this apparent regulation of total body fat is unknown. One possibility is via the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) innervation of WAT and brown adipose tissue (BAT) through the regulation of lipolysis and thermogenesis, respectively. Specifically, decreases in SNS activity might fuel lipectomy-induced body fat compensation through energy saved from decreased BAT thermogenesis and would promote lipid accretion through decreased WAT basal lipolysis. Therefore, we tested whether lipectomy triggered decreases in the SNS drive [as indicated by the norepinephrine turnover (NETO)] to nonexcised WAT or to BAT, at times before the lipectomy-induced fat pad mass compensation was complete. Siberian hamsters received either sham or bilateral epididymal WAT lipectomy, and NETO was measured in the remaining WAT and interscapular BAT (IBAT) before, and 3 and 6 weeks after surgery. Total dissected WAT, and inguinal and retroperitoneal WAT masses were significantly increased following lipectomy, whereas dorsal subcutaneous WAT and IBAT masses, as well as food intake, were unchanged. The only significant change in NETO was a marked decrease (approximately 90%) in IBAT NETO at Week 3 postlipectomy compared with the sham-lipectomized controls. These findings suggest that the lipid accretion of nonexcised WAT pads triggered by lipectomy may be partially fueled by decreased BAT thermogenesis, inasmuch as decreased IBAT NETO reflects decreased BAT heat production.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed2004

Sympathetic innervation of white adipose tissue and its regulation of fat cell number.

White adipose tissue (WAT) is innervated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the central origins of this innervation have been demonstrated for inguinal and epididymal WAT (iWAT and eWAT, respectively) using a viral transneuronal tract tracer, the pseudorabies virus (PRV). Although the more established role of this sympathetic innervation of WAT is as a major stimulator of lipid mobilization, this innervation also inhibits WAT fat cell number (FCN); thus, local denervation of WAT leads to marked increases in WAT mass and FCN. The purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of the SNS regulation of FCN using neuroanatomical and functional analyses. Therefore, we injected PRV into retroperitoneal WAT (rWAT) to compare the SNS outflow to this pad from what already is known for iWAT and eWAT. In addition, we tested the ability of local unilateral denervation of rWAT or iWAT to promote increases in WAT mass and FCN vs. their contralateral neurally intact counterparts. Although the overall pattern of innervation was more similar than different for rWAT vs. iWAT or eWAT, its SNS outflow appeared to involve more neurons in the suprachiasmatic and solitary tract nuclei. Denervation produced significant increases in WAT mass and FCN for both iWAT and rWAT, but FCN was increased significantly more in iWAT than in rWAT. These data suggest differences in origins of the sympathetic outflow to WAT and functional differences in the WAT SNS innervation that could contribute to the differential propensity for fat cell proliferation across WAT depots in vivo.

Adipocytes↗

PubMed2002

Photoperiodic regulation of gene expression in brown and white adipose tissue of Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus).

Siberian hamsters exhibit seasonal fluctuations in white adipose tissue (WAT) mass, with peaks in long "summerlike" days (LDs) and nadirs in short "winterlike" days (SDs). These responses can be mimicked in the laboratory after transfer from LDs to SDs. The purpose of the present study was to test whether changes in WAT and brown adipose tissue (BAT) gene expression that are mediated by the sympathetic nervous system in other obesity models are also associated with seasonal adiposity changes in Siberian hamsters. SDs decreased WAT mass and leptin mRNA, increased WAT beta(3)-adrenoceptor mRNA, and induced retroperitoneal WAT uncoupling protein-1 mRNA (the latter measured by RT-PCR, others measured by ribonuclease protection assay) while increasing BAT uncoupling protein-1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 mRNAs. These effects were not due to SD-induced gonadal regression and largely occurred before the usual SD-induced decreases in food intake. Thus the SD-induced decreased adiposity of Siberian hamsters may be due to a coordinated suite of WAT and BAT gene transcription changes ultimately increasing lipid mobilization and utilization.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗