Journal
OBESITY
Volume 20, Issue 9, Pages 1757-1762Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/oby.2011.260
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen [G.0240.07]
- Interuniversity Attraction Poles (IUAP) [P6/30]
- Programmafinanciering KULeuven [PF/10/014]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Expression of thrombospondin-2 (TSP-2), a matricellular protein with anti-angiogenic properties, is modulated in developing adipose tissue. To investigate a potential functional role of TSP-2 in adipose tissue angiogenesis and growth, TSP-2 deficient (TSP-2(-/-)) and wild-type littermate (TSP-2(+/+)) mice were kept on normal chow (standard fat diet (SFD)) or on high fat diet (HFD) for 15 weeks. TSP-2(-/-) mice kept on HFD had a significantly lower total body weight throughout the experimental period. Subcutaneous (SC) and gonadal (GON) fat mass were, however, not different, and their composition in terms of size and density of adipocytes and blood vessels was also comparable in both genotypes. Macrophage infiltration in SC or GON adipose tissues was not affected by TSP-2 deficiency. TSP-2 deficiency had no effect on adipose tissue mRNA expression of gelatinase A (MMP-2), whereas gelatinase B (MMP-9) was downregulated in SC and GON adipose tissues of TSP-2(-/-) mice on HFD. Glucose tolerance and insulin resistance tests were comparable for TSP-2(+/+) and TSP-2(-/-) mice. TSP-2 deficiency was not compensated by increased expression of TSP-1 in the TSP-2(-/-) mice. These data suggest that TSP-2, despite its reported anti-angiogenic properties, does not play an important functional role in adipose tissue related angiogenesis or associated fat development in mice.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available