Adipocyte-specific ablation of the Ca2+ pump SERCA2 impairs whole-body metabolic function and reveals the diverse metabolic flexibility of white and brown adipose tissue.

Bauza-Thorbrugge, M.; Banke, E.; Chanclon, B.; Peris, E.; Wu, Y.; Musovic, S.; Jonsson, C.; Stralfors, P.; Rorsman, P.; Olofsson, C. S.; Asterholm, I. W.

doi:10.1101/2022.03.11.483886

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.03.11.483886

Adipocyte-specific ablation of the Ca2+ pump SERCA2 impairs whole-body metabolic function and reveals the diverse metabolic flexibility of white and brown adipose tissue.

Bauza-Thorbrugge, M.·Banke, E.·Chanclon, B.·Peris, E.·Wu, Y.·Musovic, S.·Jonsson, C.·Stralfors, P.·Rorsman, P.·Olofsson, C. S.·Asterholm, I. W.

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

ObjectiveSarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) transports Ca2+ from the cytosol into the ER and is essential for appropriate regulation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that SERCA pumps are involved in the regulation of white adipocyte hormone secretion and other aspects of adipose tissue function and that this control is disturbed in obesity-induced type-2 diabetes. MethodsSERCA expression was measured in isolated human and mouse adipocytes as well as in whole mouse adipose tissue by Western blot and RT-qPCR. To test the significance of SERCA2 in adipocyte functionality and whole-body metabolism, we generated adipocyte-specific SERCA2 knockout mice. The mice were metabolically phenotyped by glucose tolerance and tracer studies, histological analyses, measurements of glucose- stimulated insulin release in isolated islets, and gene/protein expression analyses. We also tested the effect of pharmacological SERCA inhibition and genetic SERCA2 ablation in cultured adipocytes. Intracellular and mitochondrial Ca2+ levels were recorded with dual-wavelength ratio imaging and mitochondrial function was assessed by Seahorse technology. ResultsWe demonstrate that SERCA2 is downregulated in white adipocytes from patients with obesity and type-2 diabetes as well as in adipocytes from diet-induced obese mice. SERCA2-ablated adipocytes display disturbed Ca2+ homeostasis associated with upregulated ER stress markers and impaired hormone release. These adipocyte alterations are linked to mild lipodystrophy, reduced adiponectin levels, and impaired glucose tolerance. Interestingly, adipocyte-specific SERCA2 ablation leads to increased glucose uptake in white adipose tissue while glucose uptake is reduced in brown adipose tissue. This dichotomous effect on glucose uptake is due to differently regulated mitochondrial function. In white adipocytes, SERCA2 deficiency triggers an adaptive increase in Fgf21, increased mitochondrial UCP1 levels, and increased oxygen consumption rate (OCR). In contrast, brown SERCA2 null adipocytes display reduced OCR despite increased mitochondrial content and UCP1 levels compared to wild type controls. ConclusionsOur data suggest causal links between reduced white adipocyte SERCA2 levels, deranged adipocyte Ca2+ homeostasis, adipose tissue dysfunction and type-2 diabetes. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=81 SRC="FIGDIR/small/483886v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (23K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@ce9737org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@129abaeorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c63342org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4f47fe_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG HighlightsO_LIAdipocyte SERCA2 is downregulated in human subjects with type-2 diabetes C_LIO_LILoss of SERCA2 disturbs the intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis in adipocytes C_LIO_LIImpaired metabolism and altered adipokine levels in adipocyte-SERCA2 null mice C_LIO_LILoss of SERCA2 accelerates metabolic processes in white adipocytes C_LIO_LILoss of SERCA2 impairs the mitochondrial function of brown adipocytes C_LI

Source connections

Published article ↗

Explore related subjects

physiology Preprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Bauza-Thorbrugge, M., Banke, E., Chanclon, B., Peris, E., Wu, Y., Musovic, S., Jonsson, C., Stralfors, P., Rorsman, P., Olofsson, C. S., Asterholm, I. W.. 2022-03-12. Adipocyte-specific ablation of the Ca2+ pump SERCA2 impairs whole-body metabolic function and reveals the diverse metabolic flexibility of white and brown adipose tissue.. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.11.483886

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

IBD-Derived Colonic Fibroblasts Exhibit an Osteopontin-Enriched Secretome, and Osteopontin Restrains Human Colonic Organoid Maturation

Background: Intestinal fibroblasts are extensively remodeled in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), yet the soluble stromal signals that directly influence epithelial maturation remain incompletely understood. We examined whether fibroblasts derived from inflamed IBD colon display an osteopontin (OPN; SPP1)-enriched secretory phenotype and whether extracellular OPN directly modifies non-neoplastic human colonic epithelium. Methods: Conditioned media from 5 noninflamed-associated fibroblast (NAF) and 4 inflammatory-associated fibroblast (IAF) cultures were analyzed in the validated multi-donor cytokine-array matrix, with orthogonal SPP1 RT-qPCR validation in a complementary fibroblast cohort. Recombinant OPN was then tested in human colonic organoids from 3 donors using donor-resolved molecular and functional analyses under standard, fibroblast-conditioned, and WNT-modified culture conditions. Donor identity defined biological replication. Results: OPN showed the strongest positive rank-based separation between IAF and NAF cultures: all 4 IAF values were higher than all 5 NAF values (Cliff's delta=1.00; exact Mann-Whitney P=0.0159; median ratio=3.64; Benjamini-Hochberg q=.19). Fibroblast RT-qPCR showed approximately 10-fold higher mean SPP1 expression in IAF than NAF cultures (P<.05). In organoids, OPN consistently reduced KRT20, FABP1, CA2, and MUC2 from Day 5 to Day 9. SOX9, HES1, and NOTCH1 increased at Day 9, whereas LGR5 and ALDH provided no evidence of canonical stem-cell expansion. Organoid-area and EdU responses were modest and donor dependent. Conclusions: IBD-derived colonic fibroblasts can display an OPN-enriched secretory phenotype. In human colonic organoids, OPN is sufficient to impair epithelial maturation, whereas its effects on growth and proliferation are variable and depend on the surrounding niche.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2026

A multiscale analysis of liver lobule fibrosis and its impact on drug propagation and metabolism - a DLA approach

Employing DLA methods, this paper explores the self-assembly of collagen fibers and resulting fibrosis at three scales up to the scale of regular lobule models. This allows a mechanistic exploration of the effects of collagen on drug transport (flow and diffusion) and metabolism. In addition, this method permits an analysis of fiber growth characteristics. First, variations of the DLA method of Parkinson et al (1994) will be used to generate multiple explicit collagen microfibril self-assembly using DLA particles in one dimension using cubic grid blocks of (4 mm)3 in a 240 x 20 x 20 grid model. The second stage will be to assess the consequences of various densities of these fibers in three dimensions on flow reductions at a higher scale. Here we utilize DLA methods in cubic grid blocks of (80 nm)3 to mimic 3D collagen self-assembly of fibrils. We then apply a pressure gradient or specified flow rates across a spatially gridded version of these models to quantify flow effects. This region represents a local zone of liver tissue affected by fibrosis. Analytic models of fibrotic effects on flow are employed for comparison. A third stage explores the implications of fibrosis in a liver lobule model using multiple grid blocks of size 3200 mm to represent the lobule tissue. Here, a continuum model of fiber density is employed, based on the previous two scales. The model also includes the effects of additional grid blocks representing sinusoidal flow paths found in the lobule. We contrast and quantify drug propagation and metabolism of molecular dissolved versus nanoparticle delivery vehicles in fibrotic media, achieved by upscaling explicit collagen distributions to appropriate average values.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Pulmonary pressure load shapes right ventricular molecular remodelling in dilated cardiomyopathy

Right ventricular (RV) adaptation to pulmonary hypertension determines outcome in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), but the molecular mechanisms of the transition to decompensation remain unclear. We analysed RV tissue from explanted hearts of patients with end-stage DCM using single-nucleus RNA sequencing (n=21), mass spectrometry and Olink Reveal proteomics (both n=44), and integrated these molecular profiles with echocardiographic and right-heart catheterisation measures to identify molecular correlates of RV dysfunction. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure was the dominant correlate of RV transcriptional remodelling, particularly in cardiomyocytes, where higher pressure was associated with contractile remodelling, autophagy, vesicle trafficking and glucose metabolism. In contrast, RV decompensation was characterised by immune activation and reduced oxidative phosphorylation exclusively at the proteomic level. Integrative multi-omics factor analysis (MOFA) further identified fibrosis as the dominant molecular program shared across transcriptomic and proteomic layers. Together, these findings indicate molecular adaptation to pressure load and tissue fibrosis during progression towards RV failure.

physiology↗