Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a highly vascularized organ with abundant mitochondria that produce heat through uncoupled respiration. Obesity is associated with a reduction of BAT function; however, it is unknown how obesity promotes dysfunctional BAT. Here, using a murine model of diet-induced obesity, we determined that obesity causes capillary rarefaction and functional hypoxia in BAT, leading to a BAT "whitening" phenotype that is characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction, lipid droplet accumulation, and decreased expression of Vegfa. Targeted deletion of Vegfa in adipose tissue of nonobese mice resulted in BAT whitening, supporting a role for decreased vascularity in obesity-associated BAT. Conversely, introduction of VEGF-A specifically into BAT of obese mice restored vascularity, ameliorated brown adipocyte dysfunction, and improved insulin sensitivity. The capillary rarefaction in BAT that was brought about by obesity or Vegfa ablation diminished β-adrenergic signaling, increased mitochondrial ROS production, and promoted mitophagy. These data indicate that overnutrition leads to the development of a hypoxic state in BAT, causing it to whiten through mitochondrial dysfunction and loss. Furthermore, these results link obesity-associated BAT whitening to impaired systemic glucose metabolism.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) generates tissue ischemia through arterial occlusions and insufficient collateral vessel formation. Vascular insufficiency in PAD occurs despite higher circulating levels of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A),1,2 a key regulator of angiogenesis. Here, we show that clinical PAD is associated with elevated anti-angiogenic VEGF-A splice isoform (VEGF-A165b), and a corresponding reduction of the pro-angiogenic VEGF-A165a isoform. In a murine model of PAD, VEGF-A165b was upregulated by conditions associated with impaired limb revascularization, including leptin-deficiency, diet-induced obesity, genetic ablation of the secreted frizzled-related protein 5 (Sfrp5) adipokine and transgenic overexpression of Wnt5a in myeloid cells. In PAD models, delivery of VEGF-A165b inhibited revascularization of ischemic hind limbs, whereas treatment with an isoform-specific neutralizing antibody reversed the impaired revascularization phenotype caused by metabolic dysfunction or perturbations in the Wnt5a/Sfrp5 regulatory system. These results indicate that inflammation driven expression of the anti-angiogenic VEGF-A isoform can contribute to impaired collateralization in ischemic cardiovascular disease.

Background: Adiponectin has vascular protective actions and is bound by T-cadherin. Results: T-cadherin-deficient mice lack skeletal muscle tissue-resident adiponectin and display impaired revascularization that is not improved by treatment with exogenous adiponectin. Conclusion: Expression of T-cadherin is critical for revascularization actions of adiponectin in vitro and in vivo.Significance: The T-cadherin/adiponectin interaction is important for vascular homeostasis.

Rationale At birth, there is a switch from placental to pulmonary circulation and the heart commences its aerobic metabolism. In cardiac myocytes, this transition is marked by increased mitochondrial biogenesis and remodeling of the intracellular architecture. The mechanisms governing the formation of new mitochondria and their expansion within myocytes remain largely unknown. Mitofusins (Mfn-1 and Mfn-2) are known regulators of mitochondrial networks but their role during perinatal maturation of the heart has yet to be examined. Objective Determine the significance of mitofusins, during early postnatal cardiac development. Methods and Results We genetically inactivated Mfn-1 and Mfn-2 in mid-gestational and postnatal cardiac myocytes using a loxP/Myh6-cre approach. At birth, cardiac morphology and function of double-knockout (DKO) mice are normal. At that time, DKO mitochondria increase in numbers, appear to be spherical and heterogeneous in size but exhibit normal electron-density. By postnatal day 7, the mitochondrial numbers in DKO myocytes remain abnormally expanded and many lose matrix components and membrane organization. In this context, DKO mice develop dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). This leads to a rapid decline in survival and all DKO mice perish before 16 days of age. Gene expression analysis of DKO hearts shows that mitochondria biogenesis genes are down regulated, the mitochondrial DNA is reduced and so are mitochondrially-encoded transcripts and proteins. Furthermore, mitochondrial turnover pathways are dysregulated. Conclusions Our findings establish that Mfn-1 and Mfn-2 are essential in mediating mitochondrial remodeling during postnatal cardiac development, a time of dramatic transitions in the bioenergetics and growth of the heart.

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Wnt signaling has diverse actions in cardiovascular development and disease processes. Secreted frizzled-related protein 5 (Sfrp5) has been shown to function as an extracellular inhibitor of non-canonical Wnt signaling that is expressed at relatively high levels in white adipose tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Sfrp5 in the heart under ischemic stress. Sfrp5 KO and WT mice were subjected to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Although Sfrp5-KO mice exhibited no detectable phenotype when compared with WT control at baseline, they displayed larger infarct sizes, enhanced cardiac myocyte apoptosis, and diminished cardiac function following I/R. The ischemic lesions of Sfrp5-KO mice had greater infiltration of Wnt5a-positive macrophages and greater inflammatory cytokine and chemokine gene expression when compared with WT mice. In bone marrow-derived macrophages, Wnt5a promoted JNK activation and increased inflammatory gene expression, whereas treatment with Sfrp5 blocked these effects. These results indicate that Sfrp5 functions to antagonize inflammatory responses after I/R in the heart, possibly through a mechanism involving non-canonical Wnt5a/JNK signaling.Inflammation is widely recognized to be involved in the pathogenesis, severity, and outcome of ischemic heart disease (1). Obesity is thought to contribute to cardiovascular disorders, at least in part, through the systemic release of pro-inflammatory adipokines by dysfunctional white adipose tissue (WAT) 2 (2, 3). Inflammation has complex roles in both adaptive healing process following infarction as well as in the maladaptive processes that contribute to heart failure (4 -7), and the acute healing and eventual outcome of ischemic myocardial injury are dependent upon the appropriately choreographed regulation of numerous pro-and anti-inflammatory modulators. In this regard, immune modulators produced by adipose tissue can either facilitate or impair the myocardial healing process, depending on the status of adipose tissue function and the composition of its inflammatory secretome (3,8,9). Thus, a better understanding of the links between obesity-mediated inflammatory processes and post-infarct remodeling of the heart is warranted.At the cellular level, inflammatory processes are tightly orchestrated by secreted signaling molecules that bind to specific cell surface receptors and activate intracellular signaling pathways. Signaling by Wnt ligands is a major regulator of several biological processes, but its roles in modulating inflammatory responses are relatively understudied. The 19 Wnt family proteins contain cysteine-rich domains and activate signaling by binding to one or more of the 10 frizzled family receptors (10). Wnt signaling can be classified as canonical or a noncanonical (10, 11). Canonical Wnt signaling involves activation of the ␤-catenin signaling pathway. Non-canonical Wnt signaling involves other pathways including planar cell polarity and Ca 2ϩ pathways (10, 12, 13). Wnt3a is the prototypical ligand that induces canonica...

Stressors contribute to thrombosis and insulin resistance. Since obesity-related adipose inflammation is also involved in these pathological states, we assumed that stress correlates with adipose inflammation. Male mice were subjected to 2-week intermittent restraint stress. Expression of plasma lipids, monocyte/macrophage markers (CD11b, CD68, and F4/80), proinflammatory cytokines (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [MCP-1], tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6), adiponectin, heat shock protein 70.1 (HSP70.1), and coagulation factors (plasminogen activation inhibitor-1 [PAI-1] and tissue factor [TF]) in blood and inguinal white adipose tissue (WAT) was determined using immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and RT-PCR, respectively. Glucose metabolism was assessed by glucose tolerance tests (GTTs) and insulin tolerance tests, and expression of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in WAT. To examine effects of MCP-1 blockade, animals were treated with control or neutralizing antibody, or transplanted with control or 7ND (dominant-negative form of MCP-1)-overexpressing adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs). Stress increased monocyte accumulation, free fatty acids, proinflammatory cytokine, and HSP70.1 and reduced adiponectin. Adipose stromal cells highly expressed MCP-1. The stress-induced adipose inflammation increased PAI-1 and TF but did not give rise to thrombus formation. Without any changes in GTT, stress worsened insulin sensitivity and decreased IRS-1 and GLUT4 in WAT. Neutralizing antibody and 7ND-ADSCs reversed stress-induced adipose inflammation, procoagulant state, and insulin resistance. Stress evoked adipose inflammation to increase coagulation factors and impair insulin sensitivity through adipose-derived MCP-1.

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