Project description:Subcutaneous white adipose tissue (scWAT) is known to undergo browning in response to cold exposure. The goal of this study is to identify elusive precursors found within scWAT that possess the ability to differentiate into beige adipocytes. A single cell transcriptomics experiment conducted by us identified the tetraspanin CD81 as a marker of adipose precursor cells (APC) that can convert to beige upon cold exposure. However, what distinguishes a CD81 positive APC from its CD81 negative counterpart in the same tissue, or in a different tissue remains unknown. Therefore, we applied bulk RNA-seq to sorted populations of Lineage negative Sca1+, CD81+/ CD81- cells from subcutaneous and visceral WAT, and brown adipose tissue to decipher the molecular underpinnings that render a CD81+ APC residing in scWAT, beige in response to browning.
Project description:Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a life-threatening vascular disease without effective medical therapies. Emerging evidences have suggested a crosstalk between adipose tissue and vascular cells and brown adipose tissue is beneficial for cardiovascular health. Nevertheless, whether brown remodeling of white adipose tissue would protect against AAA remains unclear. Here we showed that patients with AAA had a decreased browning level of adipose tissue and induction of adipose tissue browning significantly reduced AAA incidence and attenuated AAA development in mice. Using LC-MS/MS and proteomic analysis, we further identified Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) as a novel vessel-protective adipokine secreted by browning adipocytes. Mechanistically, FSTL1 inhibited VSMC apoptosis through DIP2A/AKT signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrated that adipocyte-specific deficiency of FSTL1 abrogated the protective effect of browning induction. Moreover, supplementation of FSTL1 either systemically or patched into hydrogel placing around abdominal aorta markedly limited aortic dilation and AAA progression. Our data suggest a protective role of adipose tissue browning and a novel batokine FSTL1 in the development of AAA, which may represent a novel intervention strategy for AAA.
Project description:Histones were isolated from brown adipose tissue and liver from mice housed at 28, 22, or 8 C. Quantitative top- or middle-down approaches were used to quantitate histone H4 and H3.2 proteoforms. See published article for complimentary RNA-seq and RRBS datasets.
Project description:To describe the protein profile in hippocampus, colon and ileum tissue’ changing after the old faeces transplants, we adopted a quantitative label free proteomics approach.
