Structure-function relationships in the adipose cell. II. Pinocytosis and factors influencing its activity in the isolated adipose cell

Tissue fibrosis associated depletion of lipid-filled cells

Fibrosis is primarily described as the deposition of excessive extracellular matrix, but in many tissues it also involves a loss of lipid or lipid-filled cells. Lipid-filled cells are critical to tissue function and integrity in many tissues including the skin and lungs. Thus, loss or depletion of lipid-filled cells during fibrogenesis, has implications for tissue function. In some contexts, lipid-filled cells can impact ECM composition and stability, highlighting their importance in fibrotic transformation. Recent papers in fibrosis address this newly recognized fibrotic lipodystrophy phenomenon. Even in disparate tissues, common mechanisms are emerging to explain fibrotic lipodystrophy. These findings have implications for fibrosis in tissues composed of fibroblast and lipid-filled cell populations such as skin, lung, and liver. In this review, we will discuss the roles of lipid-containing cells, their reduction/loss during fibrotic transformation, and the mechanisms of that loss in the skin and lungs.

Historical perspectives in fat cell biology: the fat cell as a model for the investigation of hormonal and metabolic pathways

For many years, there was little interest in the biochemistry or physiology of adipose tissue. It is now well recognized that adipocytes play an important dynamic role in metabolic regulation. They are able to sense metabolic states via their ability to perceive a large number of nervous and hormonal signals. They are also able to produce hormones, called adipokines, that affect nutrient intake, metabolism and energy expenditure. The report by Rodbell in 1964 that intact fat cells can be obtained by collagenase digestion of adipose tissue revolutionized studies on the hormonal regulation and metabolism of the fat cell. In the context of the advent of systems biology in the field of cell biology, the present seems an appropriate time to look back at the global contribution of the fat cell to cell biology knowledge. This review focuses on the very early approaches that used the fat cell as a tool to discover and understand various cellular mechanisms. Attention essentially focuses on the early investigations revealing the major contribution of mature fat cells and also fat cells originating from adipose cell lines to the discovery of major events related to hormone action (hormone receptors and transduction pathways involved in hormonal signaling) and mechanisms involved in metabolite processing (hexose uptake and uptake, storage, and efflux of fatty acids). Dormant preadipocytes exist in the stroma-vascular fraction of the adipose tissue of rodents and humans; cell culture systems have proven to be valuable models for the study of the processes involved in the formation of new fat cells. Finally, more recent insights into adipocyte secretion, a completely new role with major metabolic impact, are also briefly summarized.

Cellular spelunking: exploring adipocyte caveolae

It has been known for decades that the adipocyte cell surface is particularly rich in small invaginations we now know to be caveolae. These structures are common to many cell types but are not ubiquitous. They have generated considerable curiosity, as manifested by the numerous publications on the topic that describe various, sometimes contradictory, caveolae functions. Here, we review the field from an "adipocentric" point of view and suggest that caveolae may have a function of particular use for the fat cell, namely the modulation of fatty acid flux across the plasma membrane. Other functions for adipocyte caveolae that have been postulated include participation in signal transduction and membrane trafficking pathways, and it will require further experimental scrutiny to resolve controversies surrounding these possible activities.

Insulin stimulates both leptin secretion and production by rat white adipose tissue

Leptin, the peptide encoded by the obese gene, is secreted by adipose cells and plays a role in regulating food intake, energy expenditure, and adiposity. Because earlier studies suggested that insulin increases the expression of leptin, we investigated the effect of insulin on leptin secretion by adipose tissue. Epididymal fat pads were incubated in vitro in the presence or absence of insulin over a 4-h time course. Insulin increased leptin secretion by about 80% at all time points studied. After 10 min of insulin treatment, the amount of tissue-associated leptin was lower in insulin-stimulated tissue, presumably due to the increased secretion. At later times, both tissue-associated leptin and total leptin production were higher in insulin-treated tissue. In untreated, isolated adipose cells, immunostaining of leptin was detected in the endoplasmic reticulum by confocal microscopy. After insulin treatment, there were two populations of cells. In many cells, leptin staining became fainter and was restricted to a narrow band near the plasma membrane. However, in other cells the leptin-staining pattern was unchanged. Leptin did not colocalize with GLUT4, the glucose transporter isoform found primarily in insulin-responsive cells, in either basal or insulin-stimulated adipose cells. In this study, insulin increased both secretion and production of leptin by adipose tissue fragments. Interestingly, insulin appeared to stimulate the transport of leptin from the endoplasmic reticulum rather than acting on a pool of regulated secretory vesicles. (Endocrinology 138: 4463-4472, 1997)

Isolation by preparative free-flow electrophoresis and aqueous two-phase partition from rat adipocytes of an insulin-responsive small vesicle fraction with glucose transport activity

Preparative free-flow electrophoresis and aqueous two-phase polymer partition were used to obtain a plasma membrane-enriched fraction of adipocytes isolated from epididymal fat pads of the rat together with a fraction enriched in small vesicles with plasma membrane characteristics (thick membranes, clear dark-light-dark pattern). The electrophoretic mobility of the small vesicles was much less than that of the plasma membrane consistent with an inside-out orientation whereby charged molecules normally directed to the cell surface were on the inside. When plasma membranes and the small vesicle fraction were isolated from fat cells treated or not treated with 100 microU/ml insulin and the resident proteins of the two fractions analyzed by SDS-PAGE, the two fractions exhibited characteristic responses involving specific protein bands. Insulin treatment for 2 min resulted in the loss of a 90 kDa band from the plasma membrane. At the same time, a ca. 55-kDa peptide band that was enhanced in the plasma membrane was lost from the small vesicle fraction. The latter corresponded on Western blots to the GLUT-4 glucose transporter. Thus, we suggest that the small vesicle fraction with characteristics of inside-out plasma membrane vesicles may represent the internal vesicular pool of plasma membrane subject to modulation by treatment of adipocytes with insulin.

Carbachol-activated muscarinic (M1 and M3) receptors transfected into Chinese hamster ovary cells inhibit trafficking of endosomes

We examined the effects of isoproterenol and carbachol on fluid-phase endocytosis by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with beta-adrenergic, M1, or M3 cholinergic receptors. Isoproterenol increased cAMP production and carbachol increased intracellular Ca, indicating successful expression of the receptor genes and coupling to typical signal transduction pathways. Carbachol inhibited the uptake of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or Lucifer yellow (markers of fluid-phase endocytosis) in both M1- and M3-containing cells but not in wild-type cells, whereas isoproterenol did not affect pinocytosis in cells transfected with beta-adrenergic receptors. Carbachol inhibited the transit of HRP from an exchangeable pool to a nonexchangeable pool by a latent process requiring minimally 5 min of incubation. During the latent period, only one peak of low-density HRP-containing vesicles was found on Percoll gradients; after 5 min, HRP appeared in both high- and low-density vesicles. Carbachol-treated cells contained less HRP in the high-density fraction enriched in lysosomal markers. Early endosomes from CHO cells labeled for 5 min with HRP underwent fusion to make a more dense population of vesicles in the presence of ATP and KCl at 37 degrees C but not at 4 degrees C. The fused material contained increased levels of G proteins as detected either by ADP ribosylation with appropriate toxins or by immunoblotting with specific antibodies. These findings suggest that GTP binding proteins are internalized in endocytic vesicles and enter into a complex trafficking process involving fusion with other vesicular compartments. Trafficking of endosomes to these compartments is inhibited by activated M1 and M3 muscarinic receptors in CHO cells.

Isoproterenol stimulates shift of G proteins from plasma membrane to pinocytotic vesicles in rat adipocytes: a possible means of signal dissemination

Guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins (G proteins) are linked to a large number of surface membrane receptors and appear to regulate a variety of effector systems located both in the plasma membrane and in other parts of the cell. The mechanism of the disseminative actions of G proteins remains obscure. During an investigation of the fate of two types of G proteins, Gs and Gi, in rat adipocytes, we unexpectedly found that isoproterenol, which stimulates cAMP levels and lipolysis in these cells, induces parallel increases in both Gs and Gi in a low-density microsomal fraction rich in endosomes and Golgi bodies. Two plasma membrane constitutive enzymes, adenylyl cyclase and 5'-nucleotidase, are also elevated in this fraction. NaF and NaN3, metabolic inhibitors, block the redistribution process. The isoproterenol-stimulated shifts are completely reversible after removal of the hormone, indicating a recycling, endocytic process. The endocytic process seems to be fluid phase endocytosis, or pinocytosis, since isoproterenol stimulates the uptake of both fluorescent-labeled dextran and horseradish peroxidase into the same vesicles containing Gs. However, the vesicles that accumulate in response to isoproterenol seem heterogenous in properties that may reflect the lipolytic process induced by isoproterenol. It is speculated that the "pinosomes" formed in response to lipolytic hormones may continually produce signals within the cellular interior during their processing and cycling. Hence, signal production in response to hormones need not be confined to the cell membrane; circulating pinosomes may be responsible for some of the disseminative effects of hormones.

Differential sensitivity of the insulin receptor to proteolysis after beta-adrenergic stimulation

The cellular mechanism by which the specific binding of [125I]insulin to intact rat adipocytes is inhibited by isoproterenol has been studied. By exposing control and isoproterenol-treated cells to trypsin (0-150 micrograms/ml for 20 min at 4 degrees C) and measuring the intact insulin receptor pool following detergent solubilization, a differential sensitivity to proteolysis of the cell membrane receptor was observed. At low trypsin concentration (less than 30 micrograms/ml), approximately 40% of the specific insulin binding in isoproterenol-treated cells was insensitive to proteolysis as compared to control cells. At higher levels of trypsin (50-150 micrograms/ml) both groups displayed similar levels of trypsin-insensitive receptors which, at the highest trypsin concentration, accounted for 10% of the total receptors in intact cells. Detergent-solubilized receptors from isoproterenol-treated cells, on the other hand, exhibited the same sensitivity to trypsin proteolysis as solubilized receptors from control cells. The time course of the onset and reversal of the isoproterenol-induced binding alteration in intact adipocytes has been analyzed by mild trypsinization (20 micrograms/ml). Results indicated that insulin receptors resistant to trypsin under these conditions mediated the decreased surface binding and were re-expressed on the cell surface upon removal of isoproterenol. Experiments in which adipocytes were fractionated into plasma membrane and Golgi-enriched fractions indicated that the loss of surface insulin binding was not accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of receptors in the adipocyte plasma membrane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Electron-microscopic and morphometric study of vesiculation in the epithelial cell layer of the toad urinary bladder. Effect of antidiuretic hormone

Basolateral vesicles are apparent in mitochondria-rich, granular and basal cells of the epithelium of unstimulated toad urinary bladder. Such vesicles are smooth-walled rather than coated. Because of the number of these vesicles, we decided to investigate the effect of arginine vasopressin (AVP) on this vesicle population during the hydroosmotic response. Both glutaraldehyde and glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide fixation procedures, as well as electron-microscopic morphometric techniques were utilized. Fifteen min after the administration of AVP in the presence of an osmotic gradient, the intracellular area occupied by basolateral vesicles was increased approximately threefold when compared to unstimulated control hemibladders (0.92 +/- 0.15% vs: 2.67 +/- 0.39%). The intracellular nature of the majority of these vesicles was confirmed by experiments utilizing lanthanum as an electron-dense tracer. It is hypothesized that this vesicular activity may be involved in water movement across the tissue after hormone treatment.

Albumin in chicken skeletal muscle

Albumin was found to be a structural constituent of chicken myofibrils. Its subcellular localization as shown by electron microscopy demonstrated highest concentrations of albumin in the region where the thin and thick filaments overlap. In addition, evidence is presented in favour of albumin synthesis in muscle. These results suggest a physiological role of an albumin in muscle, most probably in the fatty acid metabolism.

Uptake of liposomes containing the photoprotein obelin by rat isolated adipocytes. Adhesion, endocytosis or fusion?

1. The uptake of liposomes containing the photoprotein obelin by rat isolated adipocytes was investigated with the aim of producing liposome-cell fusion, enabling obelin to be introduced into the cytoplasm of intact cells. 2. Incubation of liposomes containing obelin with rat isolated adipocytes resulted in a time-dependent uptake of entrapped obelin by the adipocytes. The uptake by adipocytes (at 2h) of liposomes prepared from phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylcholine+phosphatidylserine (molar ratio 4:1) and phosphatidylcholine+N-octadecylamine (molar ratio 4:1) was approx. 6, 10 and 10% of original entrapped obelin per g dry wt. of adipocytes respectively. 3. During incubation with adipocytes some of the liposomes became permeable to Ca(2+) ions, resulting in stimulation of obelin luminescence from within the liposomes. This increase in permeability to Ca(2+) seemed to be the result of the interaction of liposomes with the cell membrane. 4. Approx. 50% of liposome uptake could be inhibited by cytochalasin B (500mum). This was consistent with this uptake being the result of endocytosis. The remaining uptake was probably the result of adhesion of liposomes to the cell membrane. 5. In an attempt to detect the presence of cytoplasmic obelin, after incubation of adipocytes with liposomes, a method of causing a rapid rise in cell-membrane permeability to Ca(2+) was developed in which an anti-cell anti-body-complement reaction occurred at the cell membrane. There was no detectable transfer of active obelin into the cell cytoplasm. 6. After incubation of liposomes with adipocytes in the absence of bovine serum albumin, obelin luminescence from a small proportion of liposomes increased (approx. 1.5%) in response to anti-(5'-nucleotidase) antibody plus complement. 7. It was concluded that under the conditions of these experiments, (a) no detectable transfer (<0.1%) of liposome-entrapped obelin to the adipocyte cytoplasm had occurred, (b) an increase in liposome permeability to Ca(2+) occurred during incubation with adipocytes, (c) at least 50% of liposome uptake by adipocytes was the result of endocytosis, presumably into secondary lysosomes, and the remaining uptake was apparently the result of loose attachment of liposomes to the cell surface, and (d) in the absence of bovine serum albumin, a portion of at least one surface antigen, the ectoenzyme 5'-nucleotidase, was transferred from the adipocyte membrane to the liposome membrane.

The fine structure of developing elastic cartilage

The fine structure of the elastic cartilage of the pinna has been examined in young rabbits aged from 1 day to 1108 days. Changes associated with growth and development are related not only to age but also to the actual situation in the pinna. In the midline, progressive changes are seen from the tip to the base. The changes in the chondroblasts with time are compared with those described in hyaline cartilage. Structures occur that, except for the presence of crystals, are apparently morphologically identical with the matrix vesicles of calcifying cartilage. These matrix vesicles, however, become very prominent with age, and aggregations of them appear to be released into the intercellular tissue from vacuoles at the periphery of the chondroblasts. There is no obvious association with calcification. Occasional single cilia, desmosomes and giant mitochondria are seen. Elastica is present at birth, and eventually every cell is separated from its neighbours by a partial investment of elastica. The quantity of matrix seems to increase with time, and with distance from the tip of the ear. This is accompanied by a marked increase in cell size with time.

Colchicine-induced inhibition of plasma lipoprotein lipase release in the intact rat

The release of plasma lipoprotein lipase by heparin was studied in fed and food-deprived rats pretreated with colchicine and vinblastine. Four hours after the administration of either drug the lipoprotein lipase activity released by heparin was only half of that found in controls. Colchicine affected the release of both protamine-sensitive and protamine-resistant lipoprotein lipase. It is suggested that colchicine and vinblastine interfere with the transport of lipoprotein lipase from the site of its storage to the vascular cell surface.

The regulation of glyceride synthesis in isolated white-fat cells. The effects of palmitate and lipolytic agents

1. 0.5mm-Palmitate stimulated incorporation of [U-(14)C]glucose into glyceride glycerol and fatty acids in normal fat cells in a manner dependent upon the glucose concentration. 2. In the presence of insulin the incorporation of 5mm-glucose into glyceride fatty acids was increased by concentrations of palmitate, adrenaline and 6-N-2'-O-dibutyryladenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate up to 0.5mm, 0.5mum and 0.5mm respectively. Higher concentrations of these agents produced progressive decreases in the rate of glucose incorporation into fatty acids. 3. The effects of palmitate and lipolytic agents upon the measured parameters of glucose utilization were similar, suggesting that the effects of lipolytic agents are mediated through increased concentrations of free fatty acids. 4. In fat cells from 24h-starved rats, maximal stimulation of glucose incorporation into fatty acids was achieved with 0.25mm-palmitate. Higher concentrations of palmitate were inhibitory. In fat cells from 72h-starved rats, palmitate only stimulated glucose incorporation into fatty acids at high concentrations of palmitate (1mm and above). 5. The ability of fat cells to incorporate glucose into glyceride glycerol in the presence of palmitate decreased with increasing periods of starvation. 6. It is suggested that low concentrations of free fatty acids stimulate fatty acid synthesis from glucose by increasing the utilization of ATP and cytoplasmic NADH for esterification of these free fatty acids. When esterification of free fatty acids does not keep pace with their provision, inhibition of fatty acid synthesis occurs. Provision of free fatty acids far in excess of the esterification capacity of the cells leads to uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and a secondary stimulation of fatty acid synthesis from glucose.

Endocytosis in Chang liver cells. Quantitation by sucrose- 3 H uptake and inhibition by cytochalasin B

The addition of 0.08 M sucrose to a culture medium containing Chang-strain human liver cells causes intense cytoplasmic vacuolation. Electron microscopy of these cells grown inferritin, time-lapse cinematography, and radioautography reveal that the vacuoles arise by endocytosis and that the sucrose is taken into the cell and localized in the vacuoles. Tracer studies demonstrate that sucrose-(3)H provides a marker for quantitation of endocytosis and that it neither induces nor stimulates endocytosis. Electron micrographs of vacuolated liver cells show microfilaments in close proximity to the inside of the plasma membrane, in the pseudopodia, and to the cytoplasmic side of the membrane surrounding endocytosis vacuoles. Cytochalasin B (CB), a mold metabolite that inhibits various types of cell motility, has a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the uptake of sucrose-(3)H by these cells. This inhibition is accompanied by a cessation of the movement of ruffles and pseudopodia on the surface of the cells and the formation of blebs which arise from the cell's surface. These morphological changes are quickly reversible upon removal of CB. Alterations in the appearance and location of microfilaments are also observed in CB-treated cells.

Correlation between pinocytosis and hydroosmosis induced by neurohypophyseal hormones and mediated by adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate

The isolated urinary bladder of the toad responds to neurohypophyseal hormone with a net increase of water transport from the mucosal to the serosal solution in the presence of an osmotic gradient. This response is mediated intracellularly by cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (AMP). The present study demonstrates that hydroosmotically active substances such as oxytocin, dibutyryl cyclic 3',5'-AMP, and theophylline, but not hydroosmotically inactive substances, induce the uptake of horseradish peroxidase from the mucosal solution. Peroxidase taken up by the mucosal cells is demonstrable in small tubules and vesicles, and eventually accumulates in lysosomes. The uptake of peroxidase from the serosal solution into similar bodies in the mucosal cells is not hormone-dependent. It is also shown that peroxidase does not penetrate the tight junction from either the mucosal or serosal solution. These results extend previous findings which implicated the apical membrane of the mucosal epithelium as the site affected by neurohypophyseal hormones. A mechanism based on secretory phenomena is proposed as a framework for future investigations of apical membrane permeability changes and pinocytosis.

Insulin and microtubules in rat adipocytes

Insulin appears to promote microtubule assemblty in rat adipocytes. Neithler oxytocin nor high concentrations of glucose has this effect. Colchicine inihibits stimulation by insulin of lipid and glycogen synthesis without influencing stimulation by insulin of glucose oxidation. The anabolic effects of oxytocin or high concentrations of glucose are not inhibited by colchicine. The "directive effect" of insulin may involve microtubules.

Structure-function relationships in the adipose cell. 3. Effects of bovine serum albumin on the metabolism of glucose and the release of nonesterified fatty acids and glycerol by the isolated adipose cell

Serum albumin stimulates the uptake of U-glucose-(14)C and the incorporation of (14)C-counts into triglyceride glycerol and inhibits the incorporation of (14)C-counts into triglyceride fatty acids by isolated adipose cells; insulin and epinephrine enhance these effects. In the absence of hormones, these responses to albumin increase with increasing albumin concentration. In the presence of insulin, a qualitatively similar pattern of increasing responses to albumin is observed; the enhancement of each response by insulin is, however, only slightly potentiated by higher albumin concentrations. In contrast, in the presence of epinephrine, these responses to albumin are maximal at the lowest albumin concentration tested, 0.1%; the enhancement of each response by epinephrine is similarly maximal at 0.1% albumin, but decreases rapidly as the albumin concentration is raised. Increasing serum albumin concentrations do, however, stimulate the release of fatty acids and glycerol by epinephrine-treated cells increasingly until a plateau, determined by the epinephrine dose, is reached. These data support the suggestion that intracellular fatty acid levels function in the regulation of adipose cell activity, and further suggest that serum albumin plays a role in determining the metabolic fate of these fatty acids.

Structure-function relationships in the adipose cell. I. Ultrastructure of the isolated adipose cell

A method is described for preparing isolated rat adipose cells for electron microscopy. The ultrastructure of such cells and their production of (14)CO(2) from U-glucose-(14)C were studied simultaneously in the presence of insulin or epinephrine. Each adipose cell consists of a large lipid droplet surrounded by a thin rim of cytoplasm. In addition to typical subcellular organelles, a variety of small lipid droplets and an extensive system of membranes characterize the cell's cytoplasm. A fenestrated envelope surrounds the large, central lipid droplet. Similar envelopes surround cytoplasmic lipid droplets occurring individually or as aggregates of very small, amorphous droplets. Groups of individual droplets of smaller size also occur without envelopes. The system of membranes consists of invaginations of the cell membrane, vesicles possibly of pinocytic origin, simple and vesiculated vacuoles, vesicles deeper in the cytoplasm, flattened and vesicular smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi complexes. Neither insulin nor epinephrine produced detectable ultrastructural alterations even when cells were incubated under optimal conditions for the stimulation of (14)CO(2) evolution. Structural responses of the isolated adipose cell to hormones, if such occur, must, therefore, be dynamic rather than qualitative in nature; the extensive system of smooth surfaced membranes is suggestive of compartmentalized transport and metabolism.