published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Chronic rejection is a major obstacle to long-term survival of organ transplants. PPAR-γ agonist rosiglitazone has been shown to reduce graft rejection but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Combined treatment of rosiglitazone and anti-IL-5 antibody prevented MHC class II histoincompatiblecardiac graft rejection with a reduction of cellular infiltration, vasculopathy and interstitial fibrosis in a heterotopic heart transplantation model. In particularly, rosiglitazone decreased CD8 T cells infiltration and luminal occlusion, while anti-IL-5 antibody reduced eosinophil infiltration and collagen deposition. Adiponectin gene (APN) is a PPAR-γ target gene, and the expression of APN receptor AdipoRII in grafts, dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells are increased by rosiglitazone. These findings prompted me to further examine the immunomodulatory role of APN in graft rejection. APN is an anti-inflammatory adipocytokine, and has been shown to inhibitimmunostimulatory function of monocytes and macrophages. Rosiglitazone suppresses DCs maturation, activation and proliferation;hence, it is possible that APN could protect graft rejection through immunoregulation of DCs. Here, using in vitro culture systems, I found that APN has only moderate effect on the differentiation of bone marrow derived DCs but itcould alter DC phenotypes. APN-treated DCs showed an increased expression of PD-L1, which is consistent with the increased PD-L1 expression in rosiglitazone treated cardiac allografts. APN-treated DCs led to a decreased proliferation and reduction of IL-2production of T cell. Moreover, APN-treated DCs increased the expansion of Tregs (regulatory T cells) which could be inhibited by the blockage of PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, suggesting that PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and expansion of Tregs played important roles in APN-treated DCs mediated immunomodulation. Further, I employed APN-/-mice for functional and mechanistic studies, and found that cardiac allografts were not rejected by APN-/-recipient mice even after 120 days post-transplantation. Histological analyses revealed very little eosinophils, CD4 and CD8 T cells infiltration; no collagen deposit and no vessel occlusion in the cardiac allografts. Furthermore, Th2 cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-5 were lower in cardiac allografts and in the serum of APN-/-recipient. Inhibition of AMPK signaling, a major APN mediated pathway, reduced the eosinophils infiltration in wild type recipient. In contrast, AMPK activation increased eosinophils infiltration in APN-null recipient. APN enhanced T cell proliferation. AMPK and P38MAPK inhibitors as well as anti-IL-4 antibody inhibited APN-induced T cell proliferation. P38 MAPK inhibitors reduced IL-4 production in mature DCs but enhanced IL-4 expression in immature DCs. In EL-4 T cells, APN increased nuclear expressions of GATA-3 and p-STAT6 and augmented IL-4 expression, and the phenomenon was suppressed by target specific knockdown of AdipoR I and II. In summary, current study provides new mechanistic insights of PPAR-γ activation and APN signaling in the modulation of adaptive and transplantation immunity, establishing a link between metabolism and immune regulation. / published_or_final_version / Surgery / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Background and objectives: A lot of studies proved that adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP), an adipokine mainly expressed in adipocytes and macrophages, is the key link between obesity and inflammation which is suggested to be a therapeutic target for obesity-related diseases. Loss-of-function study was employed by using A-FABP knockout (KO) mice generated by our group to investigate role of A-FABP in high fat high cholesterol (HFHC) diet-induced obesity. Key findings: 1. Our study confirmed that HFHC diet-induced A-FABP KO mice have a significantly increased body weight when compared to the wild-type (WT) control mice. 2. Higher adiposity was the major reason for the A-FABP KO mice to be heavier than the WT controls under HFHC diet induction. 3. The marked increase of the weight of subcutaneous fat and peri-renal fat contributed to the higher adiposity of the HFHC-diet induced A-FABP KO mice when compared to the WT controls. 4. The HFHC-diet induced A-FABP KO mice significantly consumed less oxygen and produced less carbon dioxide suggesting the reduced energy expenditure but had higher weekly energy intake when compared with the WT controls, leading to higher adiposity. 5. The A-FABP KO mice were protected against HFHC diet induced glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia when compared with the WT controls. There was also a better insulin secretion in response to glucose stimulation in A-FABP KO mice under prolonged HFHC diet induction when compared with the WT controls. 6. The A-FABP KO mice were protected against the development of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglycemia when compared the WT controls under HFHC diet induction. However, there was no significant difference in the fasting serum free fatty acids (FFA) level among A-FABP WT and KO mice fed with standard chow (STC) or HFHC diet. 7. A-FABP KO mice were protected against isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) under HFHC diet induction. 8. The A-FABP KO mice were protected against HFHC diet-induced liver injury as indicated by a lower serum ALT level suggesting a better liver function when compared with the WT controls. 9. Under HFHC diet induction, M1 macrophage polarization was dominant in fat tissues of A-FABP WT mice but M2 macrophage polarization was dominant in fat tissues of A-FABP KO mice, suggesting an improved inflammatory status in the adipose tissue of the A-FABP KO mice when compared with the WT controls. This may also be the reason for why HFHC diet-induced A-FABP KO mice have an increased body weight but are metabolically healthier compared to their WT controls. Conclusions: A-FABP KO mice had a significant higher body weight and higher adiposity due to the reduced energy expenditure and increased weekly food intake as indicated in the metabolic cage study and the reason for metabolic healthier is due to the alleviated HFHC diet induced M1 macrophage polarization in various adipose tissues suggesting an improved inflammatory status in A-FABP KO mice comparing to the WT controls. / published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Apolipoprotein C-I (apoC-I) plays an important role in the metabolism of plasma triglyceride levels and cholesterol metabolism. Little is known about the regulation of apoC-I production by human adipocytes. Aim. To investigate the effect of different tissue culture conditions on the synthesis and secretion of apoC-I and apoE in human SW872 liposarcoma cells and to study the effects of apoC-I overexpression in these same cells. Methods. SW872 cells were grown in DMEM/F-12 (3:1, v/v). QPCR was used to quantify mRNA synthesis. ELISAs were used to quantify intracellular and extracellular proteins. Colorimetric reaction kits were used to analyze intracellular cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Results . Maturation experiments revealed that after 17 days in culture, SW872 cells contained significantly more cholesterol (100%) and triglyceride (3-fold). Cell maturation was associated with significantly higher levels of apoE mRNA (+200%) but not apoC-I mRNA (-50%). The cells secreted more apoC-I (+110%) and apoE (+340%). Cellular apoC-I increased 620% and apoE increased 1540%. Treatment of cells during maturation with insulin (0, 10 or 1000 nM) significantly reduced the secretion of apoC-I and apoE (-14% and -56%, respectively) and intracellular apoC-I and apoE (-10% and -12%, respectively. Overexpression of apoC-I in SW872 cells resulted in increased cell number (+70%) and decreased lipids per cell (-32% triglyceride, -36% cholesterol) as compared to controls. Conclusion. These results suggest that apoC-I and apoE production is differentially regulated at the transcriptional level in adipocytes and that apoC-I and apoE play a role in the maturation of human adipocytes and may have an important role in mediating or regulating cell lipid accumulation. As well, overexpression of apoC-I in SW872 cells impedes cellular lipid accumulation and stimulates cellular proliferation.

This study examined the effects of early nutrition or, the body weight and adipose tissue characteristics of Sprague-Dawley rats. Different levels of caloric intake during the pre-weaning phase were achieved by manipulation of litter size. Immediately after birth, pups were redistributed into large (15-18 pups), control (1O pups), or small (4 pups) litters. Males from small litters demonstrated an increase in body weight and adipocyte, number (K.05), but this difference was not seen in the females. Litter size had no effect on adipc"cyte size or percent body fat. The effect of caloric restriction during the post-weaning phase was also examined. This was done by pair-feeding one-half of the rats raised in small litters to those raised in large litters for a period of 5 weeks. After ad libitum feeding was resumed, the pair-fed group demonstrated an increase "in adipocyte size which resulted in an increased level of fatness W.05). The results of this experiment demonstrate that the consequences of early nutrition are dependent on when it is undertaken, and suggest that sex hormones are involved in modulating these effects.

The normal development of adipose tissue lipolysis as measured by glycerol release was studied in epididymal fat pads of Sprague-Dawley rats between 4 and 16 weeks of age and correlated with changes in fat cell size.For each age group studied, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks of age, basal (no hormone present) and hormone stimulated lipolytic activity were observed for two concentrations of epinephrine were used, maximal (10,00 nM) and minimal (10 nM). Basal levels of glycerol were not linear. There was an increase between 4 and 8 weeks of age followed by a decrease between 8 and 16 weeks of age. The maximal dosage of hormone evoked a large increase in 9lYcerol production between 4 and 8 weeks, which was followed by a decrease between 8 and 16 weeks of age. The minimal dosage of epinephrine, although not significant, showed a decrease in glycerol production from 4 to 16 weeks of age. Fat cell size continued to increase between 4 and 16 weeks. Both fat cell diameter and volumes underwent a linear increase with age. However, the change was not reflected in epinephrine stimulated glycerol release. Therefore, glycerol release is inversely correlated with fat cell size during early development.The results indicate that age influences hormone stimulated lipolysis and is not dependent on cell size. Although the mechanism for the decreased lipolytic response of the isolated adipocytes was not discovered, it is believed that it may be due in part to a reduced number of receptors and to a reduced sensitivity of the cellular enzymatic system underlying lipolysis. / School of Physical Education

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Biology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR19720

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006. / "December 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-87). Online version available on the World Wide Web.