Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (Mar 2021)

Senescent T Cell Induces Brown Adipose Tissue “Whitening” Via Secreting IFN-γ

  • Xiao-Xi Pan,
  • Kang-Li Yao,
  • Yong-Feng Yang,
  • Qian Ge,
  • Run Zhang,
  • Ping-Jin Gao,
  • Cheng-Chao Ruan,
  • Fang Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.637424
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Aging-associated chronic inflammation is a key contributing factor to a cluster of chronic metabolic disorders, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Immune cells particularly T cells accumulate in adipose tissue with advancing age, and there exists a cross talk between T cell and preadipocyte, contributing to age-related adipose tissue remodeling. Here, we compared the difference in morphology and function of adipose tissue between young (3-month-old) and old (18-month-old) mice and showed the phenomenon of brown adipose tissue (BAT) “whitening” in old mice. Flow cytometry analysis suggested an increased proportion of T cells in BAT of old mice comparing with the young and exhibited senescent characteristics. We take advantage of coculture system to demonstrate directly that senescent T cells inhibited brown adipocyte differentiation of preadipocytes in adipose tissue. Mechanistically, both in vitro and in vivo studies suggested that senescent T cells produced and released a higher level of IFN-γ, which plays a critical role in inhibition of preadipocyte-to-brown adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, the data indicate that senescent T cell-derived IFN-γ is a key regulator in brown adipocyte differentiation.

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