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  • Appearance and disappearanc...
    Cipolletta, Daniela; Cohen, Paul; Spiegelman, Bruce M; Benoist, Christophe; Mathis, Diane

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 01/2015, Volume: 112, Issue: 2
    Journal Article

    Significance A unique population of Foxp3 ⁺CD4 ⁺ regulatory T (T ᵣₑg) cells resides in visceral adipose tissue of lean mice. VAT T ᵣₑgₛ are important regulators of local and systemic inflammation and metabolism. Here, we show that the VAT T ᵣₑg signature is imposed early in life, well before the typical age-dependent expansion of the adipose-tissue T ᵣₑg population. VAT T ᵣₑgₛ in obese mice lose the signature typical of lean individuals but gain an additional set of over- and underrepresented transcripts. In striking parallel to a pathway recently elucidated in adipocytes, the obese mouse VAT T ᵣₑg signature depends on phosphorylation of a specific residue of PPARγ. These findings are important to consider in designing drugs to target type 2 diabetes and other features of the “metabolic syndrome.” A unique population of Foxp3 ⁺CD4 ⁺ regulatory T (T ᵣₑg) cells resides in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of lean mice, especially in the epididymal fat depot. VAT T ᵣₑgₛ are unusual in their very high representation within the CD4 ⁺ T-cell compartment, their transcriptome, and their repertoire of antigen-specific T-cell receptors. They are important regulators of local and systemic inflammation and metabolism. The overall goal of this study was to learn how the VAT T ᵣₑg transcriptome adapts to different stimuli; in particular, its response to aging in lean mice, to metabolic perturbations associated with obesity, and to certain signaling events routed through PPARγ, the “master-regulator” of adipocyte differentiation. We show that the VAT T ᵣₑg signature is imposed early in life, well before age-dependent expansion of the adipose-tissue T ᵣₑg population. VAT T ᵣₑgₛ in obese mice lose the signature typical of lean individuals but gain an additional set of over- and underrepresented transcripts. This obese mouse VAT T ᵣₑg signature depends on phosphorylation of the serine residue at position 273 of PPARγ, in striking parallel to a pathway recently elucidated in adipocytes. These findings are important to consider in designing drugs to target type 2 diabetes and other features of the “metabolic syndrome.”