We describe a novel 30-kDa secretory protein, Acrp30 (adipocyte complement-related protein of 30 kDa), that is made exclusively in adipocytes and whose mRNA is induced over 100-fold during adipocyte differentiation. Acrp30 is structurally similar to complement factor C1q and to a hibernation-specific protein isolated from the plasma of Siberian chipmunks; it forms large homo-oligomers that undergo a series of post-translational modifications. Like adipsin, secretion of Acrp30 is enhanced by insulin, and Acrp30 is an abundant serum protein. Acrp30 may be a factor that participates in the delicately balanced system of energy homeostasis involving food intake and carbohydrate and lipid catabolism. Our experiments also further corroborate the existence of an insulin-regulated secretory pathway in adipocytes.

Acrp30 is a circulating protein synthesized in adipose tissue. A single injection in mice of purified recombinant Acrp30 leads to a 2-3-fold elevation in circulating Acrp30 levels, which triggers a transient decrease in basal glucose levels. Similar treatment in ob/ob, NOD (non-obese diabetic) or streptozotocin-treated mice transiently abolishes hyperglycemia. This effect on glucose is not associated with an increase in insulin levels. Moreover, in isolated hepatocytes, Acrp30 increases the ability of sub-physiological levels of insulin to suppress glucose production. We thus propose that Acrp30 is a potent insulin enhancer linking adipose tissue and whole-body glucose metabolism.

Abstract-Mounting evidence highlights the role of adipose tissue in the development of a systemic inflammatory state that contributes to obesity-associated vasculopathy and cardiovascular risk. Circulating mediators of inflammation participate in the mechanisms of vascular insult and atheromatous change, and many of these inflammatory proteins are secreted directly from adipocytes and adipose tissue-derived macrophages. Several factors linking obesity with an increased cardiovascular risk have been identified. The adipocyte-specific secretory protein adiponectin is a particularly promising candidate in this context. Its levels are decreased in obesity. Adiponectin may mediate some of its demonstrated cardioprotective effects through its anti-inflammatory properties. In addition to decreased expression of beneficial adipokines, secretion of a host of inflammatory factors from visceral adipose tissue may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk associated with obesity. The cardioprotective effects of many of the most popular drug regimens corroborate these conclusions, demonstrating that along with improvements in other therapeutic end points, they mediate improvements in systemic inflammation. In some cases, these improvements are attributable to direct suppression of inflammatory signaling in adipocytes.

Caveolae are vesicular invaginations of the plasma membrane. The chief structural proteins of caveolae are the caveolins. Caveolins form a scaffold onto which many classes of signaling molecules can assemble to generate preassembled signaling complexes. In addition to concentrating these signal transducers within a distinct region of the plasma membrane, caveolin binding may functionally regulate the activation state of caveolae-associated signaling molecules. Because the responsibilities assigned to caveolae continue to increase, this review will focus on: (i) caveolin structure/function and (ii) caveolae-associated signal transduction. Studies that link caveolae to human diseases will also be considered.The Caveolin Gene Family: Caveolin-1, -2, and -3 Molecular cloning has identified three distinct caveolin genes (1-6), caveolin-1, caveolin-2, and caveolin-3. Two isoforms of caveolin-1 (Cav-1␣ and Cav-1␤) are derived from alternate initiation during translation. Caveolin-1 and -2 are most abundantly expressed in adipocytes, endothelial cells, and fibroblastic cell types, whereas the expression of caveolin-3 is muscle-specific.Caveolin proteins interact with themselves to form homo-and hetero-oligomers (7-9), which directly bind cholesterol (10) and require cholesterol for insertion into model lipid membranes (10,11). Caveolin oligomers may also interact with glycosphingolipids (12). These protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions are thought to be the driving force for caveolae formation (7). In addition, the caveolin gene family is structurally and functionally conserved from worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) to man (13), supporting the idea that caveolins play an essential role.Caveolin-1 assumes an unusual topology. A central hydrophobic domain (residues 102-134) is thought to form a hairpin-like structure within the membrane. As a consequence, both the N-terminal domain (residues 1-101) and the C-terminal domain (residues 135-178) face the cytoplasm. A 41-amino acid region of the N-terminal domain (residues 61-101) directs the formation of caveolin homooligomers (7), whereas the 44-amino acid C-terminal domain acts as a bridge to allow these homo-oligomers to interact with each other, thereby forming a caveolin-rich scaffold (14).Recent co-immunoprecipitation and dual labeling experiments directly show that caveolin-1 and -2 form a stable hetero-oligomeric complex and are strictly co-localized (9). Caveolin-2 localization corresponds to caveolae membranes as visualized by immunoelectron microscopy (9). Thus, caveolin-2 may function as an "accessory protein" in conjunction with caveolin-1. Caveolin-interacting ProteinsA number of studies support the hypothesis that caveolin proteins provide a direct means for resident caveolae proteins to be sequestered within caveolae microdomains. These caveolin-interacting proteins include G-protein ␣ subunits, Ha-Ras, Src family tyrosine kinases, endothelial NOS, 1 EGF-R and related receptor tyrosine kinases, and protein kinase C isoforms (11, 15-18, 20 -32).Heterotri...

To fulfill its role as the major energy-storing tissue, adipose has several unique properties that cannot be seen in any other organ, including an almost unlimited capacity to expand in a non-transformed state. As such, the tissue requires potent mechanisms to remodel, acutely and chronically. Adipocytes can rapidly reach the diffusional limit of oxygen during growth; hypoxia is therefore an early determinant that limits healthy expansion. Proper expansion requires a highly coordinated response among many different cell types, including endothelial precursor cells, immune cells, and preadipocytes. There are therefore remarkable similarities between adipose expansion and growth of solid tumors, a phenomenon that presents both an opportunity and a challenge, since pharmacological interventions supporting healthy adipose tissue adaptation can also facilitate tumor growth. IntroductionAdipose tissue (AT) can respond rapidly and dynamically to alterations in nutrient deprivation and excess through adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia, thereby fulfilling its major role in wholebody energy homeostasis. AT remodeling is an ongoing process that is pathologically accelerated in the obese state, and thus, features such as reduced angiogenic remodeling, ECM overproduction, a heightened state of immune cell infiltration and subsequent proinflammatory responses prevail in many obese fat-pads (1). However, not all AT expansion is necessarily associated with pathological changes. The concept of the "metabolically healthy obese" state (2) suggests that some individuals can preserve systemic insulin sensitivity on the basis of "healthy" AT expansion, bypassing all of the aforementioned pathological consequences associated with obesity (3), thereby also avoiding the obesity-associated lipotoxic side effects. Many physiologically relevant processes important for human AT remodeling can be studied in rodent models, with the added advantage that processes related to AT expansion and reduction can occur at an extremely rapid rate. A 24-hour fast in a mouse is associated with a dramatic loss of AT mass and an acute remodeling process that involves rapid infiltration of macrophages; moreover, merely 24 to 48 hours of exposure to a high-fat diet (HFD) can cause a prompt increase in adipocyte size (4). AT is therefore an ideal model system to study rapid alterations in tissue expansion and reduction, as it adapts to a differential nutrient supply. Here, we will focus on key aspects of the intricate dynamics of AT remodeling and subsequent inflammatory consequences that arise from obesity.

Adiponectin is an adipocyte-specific secretory protein that circulates in serum as a hexamer of relatively low molecular weight (LMW) and a larger multimeric structure of high molecular weight (HMW). Serum levels of the protein correlate with systemic insulin sensitivity. The full-length protein affects hepatic gluconeogenesis through improved insulin sensitivity, and a proteolytic fragment of adiponectin stimulates ␤ oxidation in muscle. Here, we show that the ratio, and not the absolute amounts, between these two oligomeric forms (HMW to LMW) is critical in determining insulin sensitivity. We define a new index, S A , that can be calculated as the ratio of HMW/(HMW ؉ LMW). db/db mice, despite similar total adiponectin levels, display decreased S A values compared with wild type littermates, as do type II diabetic patients compared with insulin-sensitive individuals. Furthermore, S A improves with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-␥ agonist treatment (thiazolidinedione; TZD) in mice and humans. We demonstrate that changes in S A in a number of type 2 diabetic cohorts serve as a quantitative indicator of improvements in insulin sensitivity obtained during TZD treatment, whereas changes in total serum adiponectin levels do not correlate well at the individual level. Acute alterations in S A (⌬S A ) are strongly correlated with improvements in hepatic insulin sensitivity and are less relevant as an indicator of improved muscle insulin sensitivity in response to TZD treatment, further underscoring the conclusions from previous clamp studies that suggested that the liver is the primary site of action for the full-length protein. These observations suggest that the HMW adiponectin complex is the active form of this protein, which we directly demonstrate in vivo by its ability to depress serum glucose levels in a dose-dependent manner.

Excess caloric intake can lead to insulin resistance. The underlying reasons are complex but likely related to ectopic lipid deposition in nonadipose tissue. We hypothesized that the inability to appropriately expand subcutaneous adipose tissue may be an underlying reason for insulin resistance and beta cell failure. Mice lacking leptin while overexpressing adiponectin showed normalized glucose and insulin levels and dramatically improved glucose as well as positively affected serum triglyceride levels. Therefore, modestly increasing the levels of circulating full-length adiponectin completely rescued the diabetic phenotype in ob/ob mice. They displayed increased expression of PPARgamma target genes and a reduction in macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue and systemic inflammation. As a result, the transgenic mice were morbidly obese, with significantly higher levels of adipose tissue than their ob/ob littermates, leading to an interesting dichotomy of increased fat mass associated with improvement in insulin sensitivity. Based on these data, we propose that adiponectin acts as a peripheral "starvation" signal promoting the storage of triglycerides preferentially in adipose tissue. As a consequence, reduced triglyceride levels in the liver and muscle convey improved systemic insulin sensitivity. These mice therefore represent what we believe is a novel model of morbid obesity associated with an improved metabolic profile.

White adipose tissue displays high plasticity. We developed a system for the inducible, permanent labeling of mature adipocytes that we called the AdipoChaser mouse. We monitored adipogenesis during development, high-fat diet (HFD) feeding and cold exposure. During cold-induced ‘browning’ of subcutaneous fat, most ‘beige’ adipocytes stem from de novo–differentiated adipocytes. During HFD feeding, epididymal fat initiates adipogenesis after 4 weeks, whereas subcutaneous fat undergoes hypertrophy for a period of up to 12 weeks. Gonadal fat develops postnatally, whereas subcutaneous fat develops between embryonic days 14 and 18. Our results highlight the extensive differences in adipogenic potential in various fat depots.