Dataset Information

Dietary omega-6 lipids promote post-injury aberrant bone formation in obesity

ABSTRACT: Obesity is associated with impaired wound healing, but the mechanisms linking excess adiposity to aberrant tissue repair remain unresolved. Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a severe example of pathologic tissue repair in which mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) undergo aberrant osteochondral differentiation within soft tissue, leading to joint contractures and pain. Here, we show that injury site accumulation of dietary omega-6 (ω-6) lipids is a key mechanism linking obesity to heterotopic ossification. Specifically, in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), injured tissues are enriched in linoleic and arachidonic acids, providing substrate for myeloid cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-dependent prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. PGE2 then drives a transcriptional program in mesenchymal progenitor cells that promotes osteochondral differentiation. An isocaloric, low linoleic acid HFD reduces HO despite comparable obesity, demonstrating that dietary lipid composition, rather than adiposity alone, drives pathological repair. Clinical data mirror these findings, showing that obesity confers increased HO risk, and COX-2 inhibition reduces HO exclusively in obese patients. Together, these findings identify injury site ω-6 lipid enrichment as the key signal linking the diet to MPC reprogramming, pointing to dietary lipid modulation as an actionable strategy to limit HO in obesity.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE317906 | GEO | 2026/04/13

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:Aberrant repair after musculoskeletal injury is one of the most costly and common clinical scenarios in health care. While advances in our understanding of the key cells and pathways during the repair process have improved, there remains a gap in knowledge of the key progenitor cells and their interaction with the surrounding microenvironment. Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a pathological process caused by aberrant cell-fate determination resulting in the formation of bone in non-skeletal tissues after musculoskeletal injury. While the involvement of blood vessels in musculoskeletal repair is well-documented, the role of lymphatic vessels and the cells responsible for their ingrowth in musculoskeletal tissues during both homeostasis and after injury remains poorly understood. In this study, we employed a mouse model of traumatic HO to investigate lymphangiogenesis during musculoskeletal injury and repair and to uncover the key progenitor cells responsible to stimulate lymphangiogenesis and undergo aberrant cell fate differentiation. Our findings demonstrated that musculoskeletal injury triggered lymphangiogenesis at the injury site, including invasion of lymphatic vessels into the tendon proper. This increased lymphangiogenesis was driven by elevated levels of active Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C (VEGF-C) one-week post-injury. Through single-cell transcriptomic analyses, we identified mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) as a source of Vegfc following injury as well as the source of enzymes responsible for activating VEGF-C. These Vegfc-expressing MPCs underwent osteochondral differentiation and actively contributed to the formation of HO following injury. Notably, Vegfc haploinsufficiency resulted in a near 50% reduction in lymphangiogenesis and HO formation. Collectively, these findings suggest that MPC expression of VEGF-C and its activating enzymes in response to soft tissue trauma play a critical role in stimulating pathologic lymphatic vessel growth. Furthermore, Vegfc expressing MPCs undergo aberrant osteochondral differentiation responsible for HO. Targeting Vegfc expression and Vegfc-expressing progenitors therapeutically could potentially mitigate pathologic lymphangiogenesis, preventing aberrant tissue repair and subsequent HO formation.

Dataset Information

Dietary omega-6 lipids promote post-injury aberrant bone formation in obesity

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets