Adipose tissue-derived biological signals in integrative metabolism

这项研究提案的总体目标是促进对发生在脂肪组织中的基本生物学过程的基础知识。对脂肪组织的传统看法是，它只是作为脂肪形式的多余能量的储存库。现在人们知道，脂肪组织在人体内还有许多其他重要的功能。特别是，脂肪组织分泌称为脂肪因子的小分子，作为体内各种过程的媒介，包括炎症反应和碳水化合物(糖)和脂肪的新陈代谢。我的实验室主要研究一种叫做脂联素的脂肪因子。目前，我们对脂联素的基本生物学知之甚少，包括它是如何被调节(增加或减少)的，以及它如何作为脂肪细胞和其他细胞(如参与炎症的巨噬细胞)或其他组织(如肌肉)之间的“通讯信号”发挥作用。研究表明，运动和脂肪酸，包括鱼油衍生的长链欧米茄-3(n-3)脂肪酸二十碳五烯酸(EPA)和二十二碳六烯酸(DHA)，可以调节脂联素，但我们的基本知识有限。为了研究脂肪酸和/或运动如何影响脂联素及其在脂肪-肌肉或脂肪-巨噬细胞通讯中的后续作用，我的实验室将使用动物和新的细胞培养模型。这将使我们对脂肪组织中的基本生物过程有一个更全面的了解。此外，我们还将在特定脂肪酸的影响方面获得新的知识，这将对加拿大对优化食品中的脂肪酸感兴趣的农业和食品部门具有价值。

The overall goal of this research proposal is to advance fundamental knowledge of the basic biological processes that occur in adipose (fat) tissue. The traditional view of adipose tissue was that it serves simply as a storage depot for excess energy in the form of lipids. It is now known that adipose tissue has many other important functions in the body. In particular, adipose tissue secretes small molecules called adipokines that act as mediators of various processes in the body, including inflammatory responses and metabolism of carbohydrates (sugars) and lipids. My laboratory focuses primarily on one such adipokine called adiponectin. Currently, we know very little about the basic biology of adiponectin, including how it is modulated (increased or decreased) and how it functions as a "communication signal" between fat cells and other cells, such as macrophages (involved in inflammation), or other tissues, such as muscle. Research has shown that exercise and fatty acids, including fish oil-derived long-chain omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), can modulate adiponectin, but our basic knowledge is limited. To investigate how fatty acids and/or exercise influence adiponectin and its subsequent role in adipose-muscle or adipose-macrophage communication, my laboratory will use animal and novel cell culture models. This will give us a more comprehensive picture of basic biological processes in adipose tissue. As well, we will gain new knowledge on the effect of specific fatty acids that will have value for agricultural and food sectors interested in optimizing fatty acids in foods in Canada.