Investigating resistant nature of Lipedema fat
Poster Number
18B
Introduction/Abstract
Obesity is a condition that can be avoided by either consuming fewer calories or burning more. The general misconception around adipose tissue is that it can only store calories and not burn them. However, adipose tissue itself is comprised of three types of fat cells, wherein it is only the white adipose tissue located in the abdominal visceral areas of mammals and humans that stores lipid droplets. Brown adipose tissue is metabolically active and burns fat, and it is aptly named, due to the high number of iron-containing mitochondria present within these cells giving them their brown color. The brown adipose tissue exists only in a small amount within the neck region of human adults. The third type of fat which forms the basis of our research interest is an inducible type of white fat that remodels into thermogenic brown-like/beige adipose tissue upon exposure to external stimuli such as cold temperature, chronic exercise, and certain diets. This fat is located within the abundant subcutaneous fat depots present in the leg and hip region, and upon stimulation, similar to the brown adipose tissue is able to burn calories. Thus, inducible beige tissue is an attractive target to combat obesity. Lipedema is a disease of fibrotic loose connective tissue characterized by the presence of increased nodular and fibrotic adipose tissue mainly in the hips, buttocks, and limb region, which may be severely painful and impair mobility. Even though lipedema fat mainly resides in subcutaneous white fat depots, it is often resistant to burn by dietary or exercise-based interventions. Our question for this project is what are the underlying causes of Lipedema fat resistance and how to tackle them. We hypothesize that the unique cellular and secreted protein profiles and their signaling properties as well as mitochondrial dynamics contribute to Lipedema fat resistance. We will study the mechanisms underpinning lipedema fat resistance and investigate whether excess lipedema fat may be converted to thermogenic beige adipose tissue preventing the progression of the disease into latter stages. To investigate the above, we will apply unbiased high throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomics and single-cell live imaging techniques. We will acquire the profiles of cellular proteins, phosphoproteins, secreted proteins, and mitochondrial proteins as well as the mitochondrial dynamic, and function which would be compared among adipose stem cells (ASCs) of Lipedema, obese, and lean control groups.
Location
Library and Learning Center, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211
Format
Poster Presentation
Investigating resistant nature of Lipedema fat
Library and Learning Center, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211
Obesity is a condition that can be avoided by either consuming fewer calories or burning more. The general misconception around adipose tissue is that it can only store calories and not burn them. However, adipose tissue itself is comprised of three types of fat cells, wherein it is only the white adipose tissue located in the abdominal visceral areas of mammals and humans that stores lipid droplets. Brown adipose tissue is metabolically active and burns fat, and it is aptly named, due to the high number of iron-containing mitochondria present within these cells giving them their brown color. The brown adipose tissue exists only in a small amount within the neck region of human adults. The third type of fat which forms the basis of our research interest is an inducible type of white fat that remodels into thermogenic brown-like/beige adipose tissue upon exposure to external stimuli such as cold temperature, chronic exercise, and certain diets. This fat is located within the abundant subcutaneous fat depots present in the leg and hip region, and upon stimulation, similar to the brown adipose tissue is able to burn calories. Thus, inducible beige tissue is an attractive target to combat obesity. Lipedema is a disease of fibrotic loose connective tissue characterized by the presence of increased nodular and fibrotic adipose tissue mainly in the hips, buttocks, and limb region, which may be severely painful and impair mobility. Even though lipedema fat mainly resides in subcutaneous white fat depots, it is often resistant to burn by dietary or exercise-based interventions. Our question for this project is what are the underlying causes of Lipedema fat resistance and how to tackle them. We hypothesize that the unique cellular and secreted protein profiles and their signaling properties as well as mitochondrial dynamics contribute to Lipedema fat resistance. We will study the mechanisms underpinning lipedema fat resistance and investigate whether excess lipedema fat may be converted to thermogenic beige adipose tissue preventing the progression of the disease into latter stages. To investigate the above, we will apply unbiased high throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomics and single-cell live imaging techniques. We will acquire the profiles of cellular proteins, phosphoproteins, secreted proteins, and mitochondrial proteins as well as the mitochondrial dynamic, and function which would be compared among adipose stem cells (ASCs) of Lipedema, obese, and lean control groups.
