In vivo molecular imaging analysis of pathophysiology in metabolic syndrome

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Metabolic syndrome is a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease and one of the leading causes of death. In adipose tissue of an obese animal, an experimental disease model of human metabolic syndrome, differentiation and hypertrophy of adipose cells as well as chronic inflammation takes place and plays critical role in the pathogenesis. We developed an "in vivo molecular imaging technique", where we could distinguish various types of cells, such as adipose cells, vascular endothelial cells and blood cells including immunocytes, and observe cell-to-cell interactions in adipose tissues of a living animal. We found that large number of CD8+ effector T cells infiltrated into obese adipose and contributed to the macrophage recruitment, which culminated in chronic inflammation in obese tissue. We also clearly showed that "in vivo molecular imaging technique" is a powerful tool to analyze complex cellular interactions in various types of human disease models.