Presence and Distribution of Cholinergic Nerves in Rat Mediastinal Brown Adipose Tissue

Giordano, Antonio; Frontini, Andrea; Castellucci, Mario; Cinti, Saverio

doi:10.1369/jhc.3a6246.2004

Cited by 49 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…We did not, however, apply capsaicin topically to the intercostal nerves innervating IBAT because it has not been documented as to which of these nerve bundles might also carry all the spinal sensory nerves innervating IBAT. Given that IBAT does not have parasympathetic innervation and hence vagal afferent innervation (22), no attempt was made to abolish vagal afferents. Therefore, we directly injected capsaicin into IBAT to confine the sensory denervation to this pad in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anterograde transneuronal viral tract tracing reveals central sensory circuits from brown fat and sensory denervation alters its thermogenic responses

Vaughan

Bartness

2012

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comp

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Vaughan CH, Bartness TJ. Anterograde transneuronal viral tract tracing reveals central sensory circuits from brown fat and sensory denervation alters its thermogenic responses. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 302: R1049 -R1058, 2012. First published February 29, 2012 doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00640.2011.-Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenic activity and growth are controlled by its sympathetic nervous system (SNS) innervation, but nerve fibers containing sensory-associated neuropeptides [substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)] also suggest sensory innervation. The central nervous system (CNS) projections of BAT afferents are unknown. Therefore, we used the H129 strain of the herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), an anterograde transneuronal viral tract tracer used to delineate sensory nerve circuits, to define these projections. HSV-1 was injected into interscapular BAT (IBAT) of Siberian hamsters and HSV-1 immunoreactivity (ir) was assessed 24, 48, 72, 96, and 114 h postinjection. The 96-and 114-h groups had the most HSV-1-ir neurons with marked infections in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, periaqueductal gray, olivary areas, parabrachial nuclei, raphe nuclei, and reticular areas. These sites also are involved in sympathetic outflow to BAT suggesting possible BAT sensory-SNS thermogenesis feedback circuits. We tested the functional contribution of IBAT sensory innervation on thermogenic responses to an acute (24 h) cold exposure test by injecting the specific sensory nerve toxin capsaicin directly into IBAT pads and then measuring core (Tc) and IBAT (TIBAT) temperature responses. CGRP content was significantly decreased in capsaicin-treated IBAT demonstrating successful sensory nerve destruction. TIBAT and Tc were significantly decreased in capsaicin-treated hamsters compared with the saline controls at 2 h of cold exposure. Thus the central sensory circuits from IBAT have been delineated for the first time, and impairment of sensory feedback from BAT appears necessary for the appropriate, initial thermogenic response to acute cold exposure.herpes simplex virus-1; capsaicin; sensory afferents; iButton; body temperature; interscapular brown adipose tissue temperature; calcitonin gene-related peptide RECENT REPORTS of functional brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans has sparked more interest in mapping the connections between BAT and the brain in the hope of increasing thermogenesis thereby enhancing energy expenditure and reversing or preventing obesity (18,59,61). BAT is the major effector tissue in rodent thermogenesis (for review see Ref. 10) controlled nearly exclusively by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) drive to the tissue (for review see Ref. 5). Because of reports of sensory nerve-associated neuropeptides at the level of the BAT pad (23,24,43), the potential for reciprocal connections between BAT and the brain would thus create the possibility of SNS-sensory feedback loops to control the thermogenic activity of the tissue in response to varying environmental and physiological cha...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anterograde transneuronal viral tract tracing reveals central sensory circuits from brown fat and sensory denervation alters its thermogenic responses

Vaughan

Bartness

2012

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comp

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“…The capillary network is more dense in BAT and adrenergic fibres can be found both in WAT and in BAT, but their density is higher in BAT (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) .…”

Section: Adipose Tissuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reversible physiological transdifferentiation in the adipose organ

Cinti

2009

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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All mammals are provided with two distinct adipose cells, white and brown adipocytes. White adipocytes store lipids to provide fuel to the organism, allowing intervals between meals. Brown adipocytes use lipids to produce heat. Previous descriptions have implied their localization in distinct sites of the body; however, it has been demonstrated that they are present together in many depots, which has led to the new concept of the adipose organ. In order to explain their coexistence the hypothesis of reversible physiological transdifferentiation has been developed, i.e. they are contained together because they are able to convert, one into the other. In effect, if needed the brown component of the organ could increase at the expense of the white component and vice versa. This plasticity is important because the brown phenotype of the organ is associated with resistance to obesity and its related disorders. A new example of reversible physiological transdifferentiation of adipocytes is offered by the mammary gland during pregnancy, lactation and post-lactation stages. The gravidic hormonal stimulus seems to trigger a transdifferentiation of adipocytes into milk-producing and secreting epithelial glands. In the post-lactation period some of the epithelial cells of the mammary gland seem to transdifferentiate into adipocytes. Recent unpublished results suggest that explanted adipose tissue, as well as explanted isolated mature adipocytes, is able to transdifferentiate into glands with epithelial markers of milk-secreting mammary glands. These findings, if confirmed, seem to suggest new windows into the cell biology frontiers of adipocytes.

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“…White-to-brown transdifferentiation is essential to meet increased heat production requirements during chronic cold exposure. Cold exposure activates BAT by acting on the sympathetic nervous fibres that directly innervate brown adipocytes at the parenchymal level (36,37,38,39); chronic cold exposure results in branching of noradrenergic parenchymal fibres, significantly increasing BAT sympathetic innervation, a phenomenon that appears to be closely related to white-to-brown transdifferentiation (40,41). b3-adrenoceptors (AR) are specifically expressed by brown adipocytes.…”

Section: White-brown Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: White, brown and pink adipocytes: the extraordinary plasticity of the adipose organ

Giordano

Smorlesi

Frontini

et al. 2014

European Journal of Endocrinology

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225

177

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In mammals, adipocytes are lipid-laden cells making up the parenchyma of the multi-depot adipose organ. White adipocytes store lipids for release as free fatty acids during fasting periods; brown adipocytes burn glucose and lipids to maintain thermal homeostasis. A third type of adipocyte, the pink adipocyte, has recently been characterised in mouse subcutaneous fat depots during pregnancy and lactation. Pink adipocytes are mammary gland alveolar epithelial cells whose role is to produce and secrete milk. Emerging evidence suggests that they derive from the transdifferentiation of subcutaneous white adipocytes. The functional response of the adipose organ to a range of metabolic and environmental challenges highlights its extraordinary plasticity. Cold exposure induces an increase in the 'brown' component of the organ to meet the increased thermal demand; in states of positive energy balance, the 'white' component expands to store excess nutrients; finally, the 'pink' component develops in subcutaneous depots during pregnancy to ensure litter feeding. At the cell level, plasticity is provided not only by stem cell proliferation and differentiation but also, distinctively, by direct transdifferentiation of fully differentiated adipocytes by the stimuli that induce genetic expression reprogramming and through it a change in phenotype and, consequently function. A greater understanding of adipocyte transdifferentiation mechanisms would have the potential to shed light on their biology as well as inspire novel therapeutic strategies against metabolic syndrome (browning) and breast cancer (pinking).

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Presence and Distribution of Cholinergic Nerves in Rat Mediastinal Brown Adipose Tissue

Cited by 49 publications

References 26 publications

Anterograde transneuronal viral tract tracing reveals central sensory circuits from brown fat and sensory denervation alters its thermogenic responses

Anterograde transneuronal viral tract tracing reveals central sensory circuits from brown fat and sensory denervation alters its thermogenic responses

Reversible physiological transdifferentiation in the adipose organ

MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: White, brown and pink adipocytes: the extraordinary plasticity of the adipose organ

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