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Journal of Lipid Research Volume 56, 2015ATMs and that Abcg1 plays a key role in modulating ATM cholesterol levels in obesity and acute weight loss.ATMs were collected from mice for which the myeloid cells had been replaced by bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from Abcg1 Ϫ / Ϫ mice and from WT mice undergoing autologous BMT. We found that Abcg1 expression affected the steady-state cholesterol levels of ATMs, with Abcg1ATMs having the highest total cholesterol content. Other sterol species were not evaluated due to limitations in ATM cell quantities. We found that the ratio of M1 to M2 ATMs was altered with loss of Abcg1 expression, and that Abcg1 was most highly expressed by M2 rather than proinfl ammatory M1 macrophages suggesting that M2 cells have a unique role in adipose tissue sterol homeostasis. Overall, this study identifi es ABCG1 as an important protein determining the relative levels of ATMs and cholesterol metabolism especially in M2 macrophages. Understanding the contribution of ABCG1 to ATM cholesterol homeostasis may provide new information for controlling obesity, weight loss, and related disorders such as lung, liver, and gallbladder diseases ( 38-40 ).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
MiceIsogenic WT C57BL/6 mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME; #000664). ABCG1 knockout ( Abcg1 Ϫ / Ϫ ) mice on a C57BL/6 background were generated as previously described ( 41 ). BMT was conducted using C57BL/6 male mice as acceptors of either C57BL/6 bone marrow cells (WT-BMT) or cells from Abcg1 Ϫ / Ϫ mice ( Abcg1 Ϫ / Ϫ BMT) using procedures as described below. Femurs taken from Abcg1Ϫ / Ϫ mice were placed in PBS and sent overnight on ice from the University of California, Los Angeles to the University of Washington where bone marrow cells were isolated. In addition, C57BL/6 male mice raised at the University of Washington (three to four generations from the Jackson Laboratory) were used as a reference strain for measures of body composition. All mice were housed in pathogen-free conditions, in a temperature-and humidity-controlled environment (12 h light/dark cycle). Animal procedures were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of University of Washington.
Study designBMT was performed essentially as described ( 42 ). Briefl y, male C57BL/6 mice (WT) at 13 weeks of age were irradiated (950 rads) and then engrafted with either WT or Abcg1 Ϫ / Ϫ bone marrow cells (5 × 10 6 cells/mouse; n = 20 in each group) by retroorbital injection. Mice were maintained on pelleted rodent chow (LabDiet 5053; Purina Mills, St. Louis, MO) and acidifi ed water with neomycin (X-gen Pharmaceuticals, Big Flats, NY) for 4 weeks of recovery. Mice were then fed a high-fat diet (HFD) [D12492; Research Diets Inc., New Brunswick, NJ; 60% kcal (primarily lard) and 20% kcal carbohydrate (maltodextrin 10 and sucrose)] for 13 weeks. Mice were then randomly assigned to one of two groups for another 3 weeks of either continued ad libitum HFD feeding or to...