Adipose-specific lipoprotein lipase deficiency more profoundly affects brown than white fat biology

Adipose fat storage is thought to require uptake of circulating triglyceride (TG)-derived fatty acids via lipoprotein lipase (LpL). To determine how LpL affects the biology of adipose tissue, we created adipose-specific LpL knock-out (ATLO) mice, and we compared them with whole body LpL knock-out mice rescued with muscle LpL expression (MCK/L0) and wild type (WT) mice. ATLO LpL mRNA and activity were reduced, respectively, 75 and 70% in gonadal adipose tissue (GAT), 90 and 80% in subcutaneous tissue, and 84 and 85% in brown adipose tissue (BAT). ATLO mice had increased plasma TG levels associated with reduced chylomicron TG uptake into BAT and lung. ATLO BAT, but not GAT, had altered TG composition. GAT from MCK/L0 was smaller and contained less polyunsaturated fatty acids in TG, although GAT from ATLO was normal unless LpL was overexpressed in muscle. High fat diet feeding led to less adipose in MCK/L0 mice but TG acyl composition in subcutaneous tissue and BAT reverted to that of WT. Therefore, adipocyte LpL in BAT modulates plasma lipoprotein clearance, and the greater metabolic activity of this depot makes its lipid composition more dependent on LpL-mediated uptake. Loss of adipose LpL reduces fat accumulation only if accompanied by greater LpL activity in muscle. These data support the role of LpL as the "gatekeeper" for tissue lipid distribution.

Effects of lipoprotein lipase and statins on cholesterol uptake into heart and skeletal muscle

Regulation of cholesterol metabolism in cultured cells and in the liver is dependent on actions of the LDL receptor. However, nonhepatic tissues have multiple pathways of cholesterol uptake. One possible pathway is mediated by LPL, an enzyme that primarily hydrolyzes plasma triglyceride into fatty acids. In this study, LDL uptake and tissue cholesterol levels in heart and skeletal muscle of wild-type and transgenic mice with alterations in LPL expression were assessed. Overexpression of a myocyte-anchored form of LPL in heart muscle led to increased uptake of LDL and greater heart cholesterol levels. Loss of LDL receptors did not alter LDL uptake into heart or skeletal muscle. To induce LDL receptors, mice were treated with simvastatin. Statin treatment increased LDL receptor expression and LDL uptake by liver and skeletal muscle but not heart muscle. Plasma creatinine phosphokinase as well as muscle mitochondria, cholesterol, and lipid droplet levels were increased in statin-treated mice overexpressing LPL in skeletal muscle. Thus, pathways affecting cholesterol balance in heart and skeletal muscle differ.

Effects of inhibition of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) synthase on acute cardiac allograft rejection

BACKGROUND

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-2 is expressed during acute cardiac allograft rejection in association with death of heart muscle cells. The nuclear enzyme poly(adenosine diphosphate [ADP]-ribose) synthase (PARS) is activated by agonists such as NO and peroxynitrite, which cause single-strand DNA breaks; PARS, in turn can promote both necrosis and apoptosis. To investigate the hypothesis that NO produced by NOS-2 in cardiomyocytes activates PARS and contributes to heart muscle cell death by apoptosis, experiments were performed using a heterotopic rat abdominal heart transplant model and cytokine-stimulated heart muscle cells in tissue culture.

METHODS

Cardiac allografts were treated after transplantation with either the PARS inhibitor 5-aminoisoquinolinone at 3 mg/kg subcutaneously daily or with vehicle. Isolated purified adult rat cardiomyocytes incubated with cytokines to induce NOS-2 were treated in vitro with another PARS inhibitor, 3-aminobenzamide (3AB).

RESULTS

PARS inhibition increased cardiac-allograft survival from 6 +/- 2 to 10 +/- 3 days (n=6, n=6, P<0.05). The inflammatory infiltrate, NOS-2-positive macrophages, myocyte apoptosis, and myocyte content of nitrotyrosine and poly(ADP-ribose) were significantly decreased in PARS inhibited allografts at day 5 posttransplantation. Similarly, apoptosis and PARS activity were diminished in cytokine-stimulated adult rat cardiomyocytes when either 3AB or L-NMMA were applied.

CONCLUSIONS

The data indicate that PARS activation occurs during acute cardiac-allograft rejection and contributes significantly to the inflammatory response and to the death of cardiac muscle cells by apoptosis. They suggest that PARS inhibition combined with immunosuppression might enhance salvage of heart-muscle cells during acute cardiac-allograft rejection.

Metabolic and functional protection by selective inhibition of nitric oxide synthase 2 during ischemia-reperfusion in isolated perfused hearts

BACKGROUND

Drugs that selectively block nitric oxide synthase (NOS) 2 enzyme activity by inhibiting dimerization of NOS2 monomers have recently been developed.

METHODS AND RESULTS

To investigate whether selective inhibition of NOS2 is cardioprotective, rats were pretreated for 2 days with BBS2, an inhibitor of NOS2 dimerization, at 15 mg/kg SC. Isolated buffer-perfused hearts from treated (n=9) and control (n=7) hearts were subjected to 20 minutes of ischemia followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion. NOS2 protein was upregulated in all hearts at the end of ischemia and of reperfusion; NOS2 enzyme activity was 60% lower in hearts from the treated animals. In the treated hearts, the increase in end-diastolic pressure was significantly attenuated at the end of ischemia, and the return of developed pressure at reperfusion was greater (P<0.05). Creatine kinase release at reperfusion was lower in treated hearts than in controls (P=0.02). At the end of ischemia and of reperfusion, myocardial ATP levels were significantly higher in the treated hearts than in controls (P<0.05). In the treated hearts under ischemic conditions, lactate content was higher and the lactate/pyruvate ratio was lower than in controls (P<0.05); GAPDH activity was higher; and G-3-P and aldose reductase activity were lower. At reperfusion, in the treated hearts, there was less histological damage and less apoptosis of cardiac muscle cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Pretreatment with BBS2, a selective inhibitor of NOS2, improves contractile performance, preserves myocardial ATP, and reduces damage and death of cardiac myocytes during ischemia and reperfusion of isolated buffer-perfused rat hearts.

Stable telomere length and telomerase expression from naïve to memory B-lymphocyte differentiation

Telomere length and telomerase activity play important roles in regulating replicative lifespan of cells. The length of telomeres also serves as a marker for the replicative history and for the remaining replicative potential of cells. Differential telomere length has been reported in human naïve and memory T cells but not in naïve versus memory B-lymphocytes. We report here an analysis of telomere length and induced telomerase expression in naïve (CD27(-)) and memory (CD27(+)) B cells from normal adults. Although both naïve and memory B cells lose telomere repeats with age, there is no consistent difference in telomere length between these two B cell subsets. Furthermore, both naïve and memory B cells are capable of inducing telomerase activity at similar levels after in vitro stimulation independent of donor's age. Finally, there is a slow increase of memory B cells in peripheral blood with age. Together, these findings suggest that B cells are capable of maintaining telomere length during differentiation from naïve to memory B cells and this ability is maintained through age.

Lineage-specific telomere shortening and unaltered capacity for telomerase expression in human T and B lymphocytes with age

Age effects on telomere length and telomerase expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes were analyzed from 121 normal individuals age newborn to 94 years and revealed several new findings. 1) Telomere shortening was observed in CD4+ and CD8+ T and B cells with age. However, the rate of telomere loss was significantly different in these populations, 35 +/- 8, 26 +/- 7, and 19 +/- 7 bp/year for CD4+ and CD8+ T and B cells, respectively. In addition, CD4+ T cells had the longest average telomeres at all ages, followed by B cells, with CD8+ T cell telomeres the shortest, suggesting that these lymphocyte populations may have different replicative histories in vivo. 2) Telomerase activity in freshly isolated T and B cells was indistinguishably low to undetectable at all ages but was markedly increased after Ag and costimulatory receptors mediated stimulation in vitro. Furthermore, age did not alter the magnitude of telomerase activity induced after stimulation of T or B lymphocytes through Ag and costimulatory receptors or in response to PMA plus ionomycin treatment. 3) The levels of telomerase activity induced by in vitro stimulation varied among individual donors but were highly correlated with the outcome of telomere length change in CD4+ T cells after Ag receptor-mediated activation. Together, these results indicate that rates of age-associated loss of telomere length in vivo in peripheral blood lymphocytes is specific to T and B cell subsets and that age does not significantly alter the capacity for telomerase induction in lymphocytes.