Recent studies have identified intracellular metabolism as a fundamental determinant of macrophage function. In obesity, proinflammatory macrophages accumulate in adipose tissue and trigger chronic low-grade inflammation, that promotes the development of systemic insulin resistance, yet changes in their intracellular energy metabolism are currently unknown. We therefore set out to study metabolic signatures of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) in lean and obese conditions. F4/80-positive ATMs were isolated from obese vs lean mice. High-fat feeding of wild-type mice and myeloid-specific Hif1-/- mice was used to examine the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) in ATMs part of obese adipose tissue. In vitro, bone marrow-derived macrophages were co-cultured with adipose tissue explants to examine adipose tissue-induced changes in macrophage phenotypes. Transcriptome analysis, real-time flux measurements, ELISA and several other approaches were used to determine the metabolic signatures and inflammatory status of macrophages. In addition, various metabolic routes were inhibited to determine their relevance for cytokine production. Transcriptome analysis and extracellular flux measurements of mouse ATMs revealed unique metabolic rewiring in obesity characterised by both increased glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. Similar metabolic activation of CD14+ cells in obese individuals was associated with diabetes outcome. These changes were not observed in peritoneal macrophages from obese vs lean mice and did not resemble metabolic rewiring in M1-primed macrophages. Instead, metabolic activation of macrophages was dose-dependently induced by a set of adipose tissue-derived factors that could not be reduced to leptin or lactate. Using metabolic inhibitors, we identified various metabolic routes, including fatty acid oxidation, glycolysis and glutaminolysis, that contributed to cytokine release by ATMs in lean adipose tissue. Glycolysis appeared to be the main contributor to the proinflammatory trait of macrophages in obese adipose tissue. HIF-1, a key regulator of glycolysis, nonetheless appeared to play no critical role in proinflammatory activation of ATMs during early stages of obesity. Our results reveal unique metabolic activation of ATMs in obesity that promotes inflammatory cytokine release. Further understanding of metabolic programming in ATMs will most likely lead to novel therapeutic targets to curtail inflammatory responses in obesity.
Unique metabolic activation of adipose tissue macrophages in obesity promotes inflammatory responses.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesANGPTL4 regulates plasma lipids, making it an attractive target for correcting dyslipidemia. However, ANGPTL4 inactivation in mice fed a high fat diet causes chylous ascites, an acute-phase response, and mesenteric lymphadenopathy. Here, we studied the role of ANGPTL4 in lipid uptake in macrophages and in the above-mentioned pathologies using Angptl4-hypomorphic and Angptl4-/- mice. Angptl4 expression in peritoneal and bone marrow-derived macrophages was highly induced by lipids. Recombinant ANGPTL4 decreased lipid uptake in macrophages, whereas deficiency of ANGPTL4 increased lipid uptake, upregulated lipid-induced genes, and increased respiration. ANGPTL4 deficiency did not alter LPL protein levels in macrophages. Angptl4-hypomorphic mice with partial expression of a truncated N-terminal ANGPTL4 exhibited reduced fasting plasma triglyceride, cholesterol, and non-esterified fatty acid levels, strongly resembling Angptl4-/- mice. However, during high fat feeding, Angptl4-hypomorphic mice showed markedly delayed and attenuated elevation in plasma serum amyloid A and much milder chylous ascites than Angptl4-/- mice, despite similar abundance of lipid-laden giant cells in mesenteric lymph nodes. In conclusion, ANGPTL4 deficiency increases lipid uptake and respiration in macrophages without affecting LPL protein levels. Compared with the absence of ANGPTL4, low levels of N-terminal ANGPTL4 mitigate the development of chylous ascites and an acute-phase response in mice.
Characterization of ANGPTL4 function in macrophages and adipocytes using <i>Angptl4</i>-knockout and <i>Angptl4</i>-hypomorphic mice.
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View SamplesRecent studies have demonstrated that upon encountering a pathogenic stimulus, robust metabolic rewiring of immune cells occurs. A switch away from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis, even in the presence of sufficient amounts of oxygen (akin the Warburg effect), is typically observed in activated innate and adaptive immune cells and is thought to accommodate adequate inflammatory responses. However, whether the Warburg effect is a general phenomenon applicable in human monocytes exposed to different pathogenic stimuli is unknown. Our results using human monocytes from healthy donors demonstrate that the Warburg effect only holds true for TLR4 activated cells. Although activation of other TLRs leads to an increase in glycolysis, no reduction or even an enhancement in oxidative phosphorylation is observed. Moreover, specific metabolic rewiring occurs in TLR4 vs. TLR2 stimulated cells characterized by altered gene expression profiles of pathways related to metabolism, changes in spare respiratory capacity of the cells and differential regulation of mitochondrial enzyme activity. Similarly, results from ex vivo and in vivo studies demonstrate metabolic rewiring of immune cells that is highly dependent on the type of pathogenic stimulus. Although the Warburg effect is observed in human monocytes after TLR4 activation, we propose that this typical metabolic response is not applicable to other inflammatory signalling routes including TLR2 in human monocytes. Instead, each pathogenic stimulus and subsequently activated inflammatory signalling cascade induces specific metabolic rewiring of the immune cell to accommodate an appropriate response.
Microbial stimulation of different Toll-like receptor signalling pathways induces diverse metabolic programmes in human monocytes.
Specimen part, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesObesity induces macrophages to drive inflammation in adipose tissue, a crucial step towards the development of type 2 diabetes. The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate succinate is released from cells under metabolic stress and has recently emerged as a metabolic signal induced by proinflammatory stimuli. We therefore investigated whether succinate receptor 1 (SUCNR1) could play a role in the development of adipose tissue inflammation and type 2 diabetes. Succinate levels were determined in human plasma samples from individuals with type 2 diabetes and non-diabetic participants. Succinate release from adipose tissue explants was studied. Sucnr1 -/- and wild-type (WT) littermate mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) or low-fat diet (LFD) for 16 weeks. Serum metabolic variables, adipose tissue inflammation, macrophage migration and glucose tolerance were determined. We show that hypoxia and hyperglycaemia independently drive the release of succinate from mouse adipose tissue (17-fold and up to 18-fold, respectively) and that plasma levels of succinate were higher in participants with type 2 diabetes compared with non-diabetic individuals (+53%; p < 0.01). Sucnr1 -/- mice had significantly reduced numbers of macrophages (0.56 0.07 vs 0.92 0.15 F4/80 cells/adipocytes, p < 0.05) and crown-like structures (0.06 0.02 vs 0.14 0.02, CLS/adipocytes p < 0.01) in adipose tissue and significantly improved glucose tolerance (p < 0.001) compared with WT mice fed an HFD, despite similarly increased body weights. Consistently, macrophages from Sucnr1 -/- mice showed reduced chemotaxis towards medium collected from apoptotic and hypoxic adipocytes (-59%; p < 0.05). Our results reveal that activation of SUCNR1 in macrophages is important for both infiltration and inflammation of adipose tissue in obesity, and suggest that SUCNR1 is a promising therapeutic target in obesity-induced type 2 diabetes.
SUCNR1-mediated chemotaxis of macrophages aggravates obesity-induced inflammation and diabetes.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming the most common liver disease worldwide, yet the pathogenesis of NAFLD is only partially understood. Here, we investigated the role of the gut bacteria in NAFLD by stimulating the gut bacteria via feeding mice the fermentable dietary fiber guar gum and suppressing the gut bacteria via chronic oral administration of antibiotics. Guar gum feeding profoundly altered the gut microbiota composition, in parallel with reduced diet-induced obesity and improved glucose tolerance. Strikingly, despite reducing adipose tissue mass and inflammation, guar gum enhanced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, concurrent with markedly elevated plasma and hepatic bile acid levels. Consistent with a role of elevated bile acids in the liver phenotype, treatment of mice with taurocholic acid stimulated hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. In contrast to guar gum, chronic oral administration of antibiotics effectively suppressed the gut bacteria, decreased portal secondary bile acid levels, and attenuated hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Neither guar gum or antibiotics influenced plasma lipopolysaccharide levels. In conclusion, our data indicate a causal link between changes in gut microbiota and hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in a mouse model of NAFLD, possibly via alterations in bile acids.
Modulation of the gut microbiota impacts nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a potential role for bile acids.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesUncontrolled microglial activation may lead to development of inflammation-induced brain damage. Here we uncover a ribosome-based mechanism/check point involved in control of the innate immune response and microglial activation. Using an in vivo model-system for analysis of the dynamic translational state of microglial ribosomes with mRNAs as input and newly synthesized peptides as an output, we find a marked dissociation of microglia mRNA and protein networks following innate immune challenge. Highly up-regulated and ribosome-associated mRNAs were not translated resulting in two distinct microglial molecular signatures, a highly specialized pro-inflammatory mRNA and immunomodulatory/homeostatic protein signature. We find that this is due to specific translational suppression of highly expressed mRNAs through a 3UTR-mediated mechanism involving the RNA binding protein SRSF3. This discovery suggests avenues for therapeutic modulation of innate immune response in resident microglia.
Diverging mRNA and Protein Networks in Activated Microglia Reveal SRSF3 Suppresses Translation of Highly Upregulated Innate Immune Transcripts.
Treatment
View Samplesaffy_rice_2011_03 - affy_compartimentation_rice_albumen_embryon - During germination, the rice seed goes from a dry quiescent state to an active metabolism. As with all cereals, the rice seed is highly differentiated between the embryo (that will give rise to the future plantlet) and the endosperm (that contains the seed storage compounds and that will degenerate). The molecular mechanisms operating in the rice seed embryo have begun to be described. Yet, very few studies have focused specifically on the endosperm during the germination process. In particular, the endosperm is mostly addressed with regards to its storage proteins but we have detected a large protein diversity by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Similarly, the endosperm is rich in total RNA which suggest that gene expression coming from seed maturation could play a role during the germination process. In this context, we want to compare the transcriptome of the embryo and the endosperm during rice seed germination. -We germinate rice seeds of the first sequenced rice cultivar i.e. Nipponbare during 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24h of imbibition in sterile distilled water. Germination occurs under constant air bubbling, in the dark at 30C. These rice seeds are then manually dissected into embryo and endosperm fractions. -The embryo-derived samples are abbreviated in E while the endosperm samples are abbreviated A. The germination time-point is indicated after the letter (e.g. E8 for embryo samples harvested after 8 hours of germination). Finally, the biological repetition number is indicated before the letter and the time digit (e.g. 1-E8 for an embryo sample from the first repetition at 8 hours of imbibition).
Compartmentation and dynamics of flavone metabolism in dry and germinated rice seeds.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe size and scope of microarray experiments continue to increase. However, datasets generated on different platforms or at different centres contain biases. Improved techniques are needed to remove platform- and batch-specific biases. One experimental control is the replicate hybridization of a subset of samples at each site or on each platform to learn the relationship between the two platforms. To date, no algorithm exists to specifically use this type of control. LTR is a linear-modelling-based algorithm that learns the relationship between different microarray batches from replicate hybridizations. LTR was tested on a new benchmark dataset of 20 samples hybridized to different Affymetrix microarray platforms. Before LTR, the two platforms were significantly different; application of LTR removed this bias. LTR was tested with six separate data pre-processing algorithms, and its effectiveness was independent of the pre-processing algorithm. Sample-size experiments indicate that just three replicate hybridizations can significantly reduce bias. An R library implementing LTR is available.
LTR: Linear Cross-Platform Integration of Microarray Data.
Sex
View SamplesTo comprehensively delineate the ontogeny of an organ system, we generated 112,217 single- cell transcriptomes representing all endoderm populations within the mouse embryo until midgestation. We employed graph-based approaches to model differentiating cells for spatio- temporal characterization of developmental trajectories. Our analysis reveals the detailed architecture of the emergence of the first (primitive or extra-embryonic) endodermal population and pluripotent epiblast. We uncover an unappreciated relationship between descendants of these lineages, before the onset of gastrulation, suggesting that mixing of extra-embryonic and embryonic endoderm cells occurs more than once during mammalian development. We map the trajectories of endoderm cells as they acquire embryonic versus extra-embryonic fates, and their spatial convergence within the gut endoderm; revealing them to be globally similar but retaining aspects of their lineage history. We observe the regionalized localization of cells along the forming gut tube, reflecting their extra-embryonic or embryonic origin, and their coordinate patterning into organ-specific territories along the anterior-posterior axis. Overall design: Total RNA was extracted from bulk tissue and dissociated cells of 13ss (~E8.75) gut tubes, from bulk tissue from anterior, anterior-midgut, midgut-posterior and posterior sections of 13ss gut tubes, as well as from extra-embryonic visceral endoderm and embryonic visceral endoderm of E7.5 embryos (see also table in section: Bulk RNA processing). The Trizol method (Invitrogen) was used for RNA extraction.
The emergent landscape of the mouse gut endoderm at single-cell resolution.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesMolecular mechanisms that are responsible for the development of human skin epithelial cells are not completely understood so far. As a consequence, the efficiency to establish a pure skin epithelial cell population from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) remains poor. Using an approach including RNA interference and high-throughput imaging of early epithelial cells, we could identify candidate kinases which are involved in skin epithelial differentiation. Among them, we found HIPK4 to be an important inhibitor of this process. Indeed, its silencing increased the amount of generated skin epithelial precursors, increased the amount of generated keratinocytes and improved growth and differentiation of organotypic cultures, allowing for the formation of a denser basal layer and stratification with the expression of several keratins. Our data bring substantial input in the regulation of human skin epithelial differentiation and for improving differentiation protocols from pluripotent stem cells.
An RNAi Screen Reveals an Essential Role for HIPK4 in Human Skin Epithelial Differentiation from iPSCs.
Specimen part, Time
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