Adipocyte-specific hypoxia-inducible factor 2α deficiency exacerbates obesity-induced brown adipose tissue dysfunction and metabolic dysregulation

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Angiogenesis is a central regulator for white (WAT) and brown (BAT) adipose tissue adaptation in the course of obesity. Here we show that deletion of hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2α) in adipocytes (by using Fabp4-Cre transgenic mice) but not in myeloid or endothelial cells negatively impacted WAT angiogenesis and promoted WAT inflammation, WAT dysfunction, hepatosteatosis, and systemic insulin resistance in obesity. Importantly, adipocyte HIF2α regulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and angiogenesis of obese BAT as well as its thermogenic function. Consistently, obese adipocyte-specific HIF2α-deficient mice displayed BAT dysregulation, associated with reduced levels of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and a dysfunctional thermogenic response to cold exposure. VEGF administration reversed WAT and BAT inflammation and BAT dysfunction in adipocyte HIF2α-deficient mice. Together, our findings show that adipocyte HIF2α is protective against maladaptation to obesity and metabolic dysregulation by promoting angiogenesis in both WAT and BAT and by counteracting obesity- mediated BAT dysfunction.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)376-393
Number of pages18
JournalMolecular and Cellular Biology
Volume36
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#66212
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#72195
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#66776
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#66658
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#67419
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#73487
Scopus 84958092597
PubMed 26572826
ORCID /0000-0002-9467-780X/work/147674928
ORCID /0000-0003-2514-9429/work/148606764

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals