Publication of the week: Professor Paul Trayhurn

Trayhurn, P., “Hypoxia and Adipocyte Physiology – Implications for Adipose Tissue Dysfunction in Obesity”, Annual Review of Nutrition 34 (2014), 207-236 . DOI: 10.1146/annurev-nutr-071812-161156.

Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) develops in white adipose tissue in obese mice, resulting in changes in adipocyte (fat cell) function that may underpin the dysregulation that leads to obesity-associated disorders – such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Whether hypoxia occurs in adipose tissue in human obesity is unclear, with recent studies contradicting earlier reports that this was the case. Adipocytes, both mouse and human, exhibit extensive functional changes in culture in response to hypoxia, which alters the expression of up to 1,300 genes. These include genes encoding key adipokines (proteins secreted from fat cells) such as leptin, interleukin-6, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), which are upregulated, and adiponectin, which is downregulated. Hypoxia also inhibits the expression of genes linked to oxidative metabolism while stimulating the expression of genes associated with glycolysis (glucose breakdown). Glucose uptake and lactate release by adipocytes are both stimulated by hypoxia, and insulin sensitivity falls. Preadipocytes and macrophages in adipose tissue also respond to hypoxia. The hypoxia-signalling pathway may provide a new target for the treatment of obesity-associated disorders.

The full article is available here.

The Annual Review of Nutrition is the leading review forum in the nutritional sciences, and is one of the series of annual publications from Annual Reviews covering the Biomedical, Life, Physical, and Social Sciences.

Paul Trayhurn is Dean of Research Strategy at Buckingham and a member of the Clore Laboratory.