Environmental endocrine disruptors (EDCs), including bisphenol-A (BPA), have been recently involved in obesity and diabetes by dysregulating adipose tissue function. Our aim was to examine whether prolonged exposure to low doses of BPA could affect adipogenesis and adipocyte metabolic functions. Therefore, 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes were cultured for three weeks with BPA 1 nM to mimic human environm...

1. Adipose tissue mass is dependent on both the average volume and the number of its constituent adipocytes. Significant alteration in body mass involves alteration in both adipocyte volume and number. 2. Increases in adipocyte number occur via replication and differentiation of preadipocytes, a process which occurs throughout life. Decreases in adipocyte number occur via preadipocyte and adipo...

The relationship of leptin gene expression to adipocyte volume was investigated in lean 10-wk-old male C57BL/6J mice. mRNA levels for leptin, insulin receptor, glucocorticoid receptor, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in inguinal, epididymal, and retroperitoneal adipose tissues were quantified and related to adipocyte volume. Leptin mRNA levels were highly correlated with adipocyte volume ...

OBJECTIVE(S) Atherosclerosis is a chronic immune-inflammatory disease that generally leads to ischemic heart disease. Ghrelin has several modulatory effects on cardiovascular system. In this study, we investigated the effect of ghrelin on aortic intima-media thickness, size and the number of adipocyte cells in obese and control mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted on 24 male C...

We investigated a possible role of the central glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor system as an essential brain circuit regulating adiposity through effects on nutrient partitioning and lipid metabolism independent from feeding behavior. Both lean and diet-induced obesity mice were used for our experiments. GLP-1 (7-36) amide was infused in the brain for 2 or 7 d. The expression of key enzym...

INTRODUCTION Hypoxia regulates adipocyte metabolism. Hexosamine biosynthesis is implicated in murine 3T3L1 adipocyte differentiation and is a possible underlying mechanism for hypoxia's effects on adipocyte metabolism. METHODS Lipid metabolism was studied in human visceral and subcutaneous adipocytes in in vitro hypoxic culture with adipophilic staining, glycerol release, and palmitate oxidat...

Adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia together with angiogenesis contribute to the growth of the fat mass. Because changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) components are often associated with such cellular remodeling, we studied the adipocyte expression of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9, two key enzymes involved in the modulation of ECM. The present study provides the first evid...

Antiserum against rat adipocyte intrinsic plasma membrane proteins raised in rabbits has previously been shown to mimic insulin action on rat adipocyte glucose transport activity and lipolysis (Pillion, D. J., and Czech, M. P. (1978) J. Biol. Chem 253, 3761-3764). In the present studies, extraction of lipids from adipocyte membranes previously treated with dimethylmaleic anhydride to remove ext...

Aquaporin-7 (AQP7) is a water/glycerol transporting protein expressed in adipocyte plasma membranes. We report here remarkable age-dependent hypertrophy in adipocytes in AQP7-deficient mice. Wild type and AQP7 null mice had similar growth at 0-16 weeks as assessed by body weight; however, by 16 weeks AQP7 null mice had 3.7-fold increased body fat mass. Adipocytes from AQP7 null mice of age 16 w...