Energy is stored predominately as lipid in white adipose tissue (WAT) in distinct anatomical locations, with each site exerting different effects on key biological processes, including glucose homeostasis. To determine the relative contributions of subcutaneous and visceral WAT on glucose homeostasis, comparable amounts of adipose tissue from abdominal subcutaneous inguinal WAT (IWAT), intra-ab...

Heat treatments (HT) and the induction of heat shock proteins (HSPs) improve whole body and skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity while decreasing white adipose tissue (WAT) mass. However, HSPs in WAT have been understudied. The purpose of the present study was to examine patterns of HSP expression in WAT depots, and to examine the effects of a single in vivo HT on WAT metabolism. Male Wistar rat...

Negative regulators of white adipose tissue (WAT) expansion are poorly documented in vivo. Prostaglandin F(2α) (PGF(2α)) is a potent antiadipogenic factor in cultured preadipocytes, but evidence for its involvement in physiological context is lacking. We previously reported that Akr1b7, an aldo-keto reductase enriched in adipose stromal vascular fraction but absent from mature adipocytes, has a...

Liver X receptors (LXRs) are transcription factors known for their role in hepatic cholesterol and lipid metabolism. Though highly expressed in fat, the role of LXR in this tissue is not well characterized. We generated adipose tissue LXRα knockout (ATaKO) mice and showed that these mice gain more weight and fat mass on a high-fat diet compared with wild-type controls. White adipose tissue (WAT...

To investigate the possible role of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein-2 (4E-BP2) in metabolism and energy homeostasis, high-fat diet-induced obese mice were treated with a 4E-BP2-specific antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) or a control 4E-BP2 ASO at a dose of 25 mg/kg body wt or with saline twice a week for 6 wk. 4E-BP2 ASO treatment reduced 4E-BP2 levels by >75% in liver and white (...

Invasive plants degrade aquatic ecosystems throughout the United States. These weedy species destroy fish and wildlife habitat and interfere with water uses and ecological processes. Currently, there are only eight herbicides labeled for use in aquatic sites. In order to control newly introduced invasive plants and implement resistance management stewardship, additional chemistries and active i...

BACKGROUND Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is expressed predominantly in adipose tissue, where it plays an important role in catecholamine-stimulated hydrolysis of stored lipids, thus mobilizing fatty acids. HSL exhibits broad substrate specificity and besides acylglycerides it hydrolyzes cholesteryl esters, retinyl esters and lipoidal esters. Despite its role in fatty acid mobilization, HSL nul...

Like other antihuman immunodeficiency virus dideoxynucleosides, stavudine may occasionally induce lactic acidosis and perhaps lipodystrophy in metabolically or genetically susceptible patients. We studied the effects of stavudine on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), fatty acid oxidation, and blood metabolites in lean and genetically obese (ob/ob) mice. In lean mice, mtDNA was depleted in liver and ske...

A marked degree of macrophage infiltration of white adipose tissue (WAT) occurs in obesity and may link excess adiposity with the chronic inflammatory state underlying metabolic syndrome and other comorbidities of obesity. Excess deposition of fat in the intra-abdominal vs. subcutaneous WAT depots is a key component of metabolic syndrome. Through construction and differential screening of a mur...