Beige adipocytes mediate the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of subcutaneous fat in obese mice

Guo De-Huang, Masaki Yamamoto, Caterina M. Hernandez, Hesam Khodadadi, Babak Baban and Alexis M. Stranahan ()
Additional contact information
Guo De-Huang: Augusta University
Masaki Yamamoto: Augusta University
Caterina M. Hernandez: Augusta University
Hesam Khodadadi: Augusta University
Babak Baban: Augusta University
Alexis M. Stranahan: Augusta University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Visceral obesity increases risk of cognitive decline in humans, but subcutaneous adiposity does not. Here, we report that beige adipocytes are indispensable for the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of subcutaneous fat. Mice lacking functional beige fat exhibit accelerated cognitive dysfunction and microglial activation with dietary obesity. Subcutaneous fat transplantation also protects against chronic obesity in wildtype mice via beige fat-dependent mechanisms. Beige adipocytes restore hippocampal synaptic plasticity following transplantation, and these effects require the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-4 (IL4). After observing beige fat-mediated induction of IL4 in meningeal T-cells, we investigated the contributions of peripheral lymphocytes in donor fat. There was no sign of donor-derived lymphocyte trafficking between fat and brain, but recipient-derived lymphocytes were required for the effects of transplantation on cognition and microglial morphology. These findings indicate that beige adipocytes oppose obesity-induced cognitive impairment, with a potential role for IL4 in the relationship between beige fat and brain function.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24540-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-24540-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24540-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().