Chemerin, an 18 kDa protein secreted by adipose tissue, was reported to modulate immune system function through its binding to the chemerin receptor (chemerinR). We herein demonstrate that chemerin also influences adipose cell function. Our data showed 5 that chemerin and chemerinR mRNA expressions were highly expressed in adipose tissues, and that their expression levels were up-regulated in mice fed a high-fat diet. Both chemerin and chemerinR mRNA expression dramatically increased during the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells and human preadipocytes into adipocytes. Furthermore, recombinant chemerin induced the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated 10 kinases 1/2 (ERK 1/2) and lipolysis in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Thus, the adipokine chemerin likely regulates adipocyte function by autocrine/paracrine mechanisms.

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Retained austenite characteristics and stretch-flangeability in low alloy TRIP type bainitic sheet steels with different silicon and manganese contents were investigated for automotive applications. As increasing silicon and manganese contents, an initial volume fraction of retained austenite film along bainitic ferrite lath boundary was increased in accompany with a decrease in the carbon concentration. An excellent stretchflangeability was completed in the steels containing a small amount of stable retained austenites (i.e., volume fraction of 2-4 vol% and carbon concentration of more than 1.0 mass%). This was caused by small surface damage on hole-punching and effective strain-induced transformation plasticity of untransformed retained austenite on hole-expanding. When austempered at temperatures less than M S of the steel after intercritical annealing, further superior stretch-flangeability was achieved due to absence of initial blocky martensite, resulting from developments of long shear section and severe plastic flow and difficult void-initiation on hole-punching.

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