No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-161).

published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Philosophy

Background and objectives: Growing bodies of evidence demonstrate that adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) mediates the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis through its direct impacts on macrophages. Loss-of-function study was conducted by utilizing peritoneal macrophages derived from A-FABP knockout (KO) mice, to investigate the role of A-FABP in autophagy and macrophage foam cell formation. Key findings: 1. No morphological changes between the peritoneal macrophages derived from A-FABP knockout (KO) or their wild-type (WT) littermates. 2. Foam cell formation was successfully induced by the treatment of acetylated low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in peritoneal macrophages derived from A-FABP WT and KO mice. 3. LDL treatment induces autophagy in peritoneal macrophages from both A-FABP WT and KO mice. 4. The extent of LDL-induced autophagy is reduced in peritoneal macrophages of WT mice and is accompanied by increased lipid droplet accumulation when compared with A-FABP KO mice. Conclusions: A-FABP is a suppressor of autophagy and contributes to the attenuation of cholesterol efflux, subsequently resulting in enhancement of lipid droplets accumulation in peritoneal macrophages. A-FABP mediates the formation of macrophage foam cell via the suppression of autophagy. The results suggest that A-FABP is a potential therapeutic target to suspend the progression of atherosclerosis and remit the atherosclerotic lesion. / published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

The triglyceride-free fatty acid (TG-FFA) cycle was studied in white adipose tissue. The major aims of the study were 1) to see if the rate of TG-FFA cycling (i.e. FFA reesterification) and the sensitivity properties (see Newsholme and Crabtree, 1976, Biochem. Soc. Symp. 41, 61-109) were affected by various treatments, and 2) to measure the rate of cycling in vivo and assess its contribution to the metabolic rate of an animal. There are two ways of estimating the rate of TG-FFA cycling; the first is based on the release of glycerol and FFA from the tissue, and the second on the synthesis of the glycerol and FFA moieties of triglyceride. Experimental agreement between the two methods is very good. It is shown that the rate of TG glycerol synthesis can be estimated by measuring the incorporation of tritium from tritiated water into the TG-glycerol moiety; this method is used to study the TG-FFA cycle in vivo. Experimental results indicated that the rate of TG-FFA cycling in white adipose tissue in vitro and in vivo is affected by various short- and long-term treatments. However, the reesterification of FFA in adipose tissue can only account for perhaps ~1% of the basal metabolic rate of a mouse, and perhaps 4% of the increase in osygen consumption observed in fenoterol-treated mice. The equations of Newsholme and Crabtree (1976) describing the sensitivity properties of substrate cycles are extended and used to show that the TG-FFA cycle increases the sensitivity of control of FFA release from adipose tissue. The degree of sensitivity attainable is variable depending on the treatment used. The use of tritiated water for estimating TG-FFA cycling is tentatively extended to brown adipose tissue. It is suggested that the rate of cycling could be used as an indicator of sympathetic activity in brown and white adipose tissue.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-54). / x, 54 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Melbourne, 1995. / Typescript (photocopy). Addendum inserted. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-179).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-166). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-107). Also available in print.