title: Adipocytes in both brown and white adipose tissue of adult mice are functionally connected via gap junctions: implications for Chagas disease.
abstract: Adipose tissue serves as a host reservoir for the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative organism in Chagas disease. Gap junctions interconnect cells of most tissues, serving to synchronize cell activities including secretion in glandular tissue, and we have previously demonstrated that gap junctions are altered in various tissues and cells infected with T. cruzi. Herein, we examined the gap junction protein connexin 43 (Cx43) expression in infected adipose tissues. Adipose tissue is the largest endocrine organ of the body and is also involved in other physiological functions. In mammals, it is primarily composed of white adipocytes. Although gap junctions are a prominent feature of brown adipocytes, they have not been explored extensively in white adipocytes, especially in the setting of infection. Thus, we examined functional coupling in both white and brown adipocytes in mice. Injection of electrical current or the dye Lucifer Yellow into adipocytes within fat tissue spread to adjacent cells, which was reduced by treatment with agents known to block gap junctions. Moreover, Cx43 was detected in both brown and white fat tissue. At thirty and ninety days post-infection, Cx43 was downregulated in brown adipocytes and upregulated in white adipocytes. Gap junction-mediated intercellular communication likely contributes to hormone secretion and other functions in white adipose tissue and to nonshivering thermogenesis in brown fat, and modulation of the coupling by T. cruzi infection is expected to impact these functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Shoshana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Fnu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nagajyothi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Mia M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Thi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Surgery, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Menachem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanani
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Cell Biology and the Touchstone Diabetes Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Philipp E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Herbert B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Tanowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. Electronic address: david.spray@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Spray
mesh_terms: D052437:Adipocytes, Brown / Q000502:physiology*; D052438:Adipocytes, White / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D018031:Connexin 43 / Q000032:analysis*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D018031:Connexin 43; C543076:GJA1 protein, mouse
keywords: Adipose tissue; Chagas disease; Connexin43; Gap junctions; Trypanosoma cruzi