Identification and characterization of a supraclavicular brown adipose tissue in mice
Qianxing Mo, Jordan Salley, Tony Roshan, Lisa A. Baer, Francis J. May, Eric J. Jaehnig, Adam C. Lehnig, Xin Guo, Qiang Tong, Alli M. Nuotio-Antar, Farnaz Shamsi, Yu-Hua Tseng, Kristin I. Stanford, Miao-Hsueh Chen
Qianxing Mo, Jordan Salley, Tony Roshan, Lisa A. Baer, Francis J. May, Eric J. Jaehnig, Adam C. Lehnig, Xin Guo, Qiang Tong, Alli M. Nuotio-Antar, Farnaz Shamsi, Yu-Hua Tseng, Kristin I. Stanford, Miao-Hsueh Chen
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Research Article Development Endocrinology

Identification and characterization of a supraclavicular brown adipose tissue in mice

Abstract

A fundamental challenge to our understanding of brown adipose tissue (BAT) is the lack of an animal model that faithfully represents human BAT. Such a model is essential for direct assessment of the function and therapeutic potential of BAT depots in humans. In human adults, most of the thermoactive BAT depots are located in the supraclavicular region of the neck, while mouse studies focus on depots located in the interscapular region of the torso. We recently discovered BAT depots that are located in a region analogous to that of human supraclavicular BAT (scBAT). Here, we report that the mouse scBAT depot has morphological characteristics of classical BAT, possesses the potential for high thermogenic activity, and expresses a gene signature that is similar to that of human scBAT. Taken together, our studies reveal a mouse BAT depot that represents human BAT and provides a unique tool for developing new translatable approaches for utilizing human scBAT.

Authors

Qianxing Mo, Jordan Salley, Tony Roshan, Lisa A. Baer, Francis J. May, Eric J. Jaehnig, Adam C. Lehnig, Xin Guo, Qiang Tong, Alli M. Nuotio-Antar, Farnaz Shamsi, Yu-Hua Tseng, Kristin I. Stanford, Miao-Hsueh Chen

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Figure 2

Mouse scBAT continues to grow after birth.

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Mouse scBAT continues to grow after birth. (A) Diagram showing the anato...
(A) Diagram showing the anatomical location of scBAT in adult mice (ventral view). (B) Representative images showing the anatomical location of scBAT in 8-, 24-, and 52-week-old mice. Top row: Lower-magnification images of the ventral neck. sg, salivary gland; tr, trachea; jv, external jugular vein. scBAT is outlined by the black dotted line. Bottom row: Higher-magnification images of the ventral neck showing close-up images of scBAT. *scBAT. Scale bars: 1,000 μm. (C) Representative image of the ventral neck from an 8-week-old mouse showing the sternocleidomastoid muscle (#) after scBAT was removed. Scale bars: 1,000 μm. (D) Representative images of iBAT and scBAT isolated from an 8-week-old mouse. Arrows point to the part of the scBAT that is located behind the external jugular vein. Scale bars: 1,000 μm. (E) Body weight, iBAT and scBAT mass, and weight/mass ratio of iBAT and scBAT in 3-, 8-, 26-, and 52-week-old male mice. n = 5–6. (F) Representative H&E-stained sections of iBAT, scBAT, iWAT (inguinal WAT), and eWAT (epididymal WAT) isolated from 8-week-old male mouse. n = 3. Scale bars: 50 μm. (G) Lipid droplet size distribution in iBAT, scBAT, iWAT, and eWAT from 8-week-old male mice. Percentages for different lipid droplet sizes were measured in 4–8 randomly selected H&E-stained sections from 3 mice. (H) Relative mRNA expression of BAT selective markers in iBAT, scBAT, iWAT, and eWAT isolated from 8-week-old male mice. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. n = 4–5. ****P < 0.0001, ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05. One-way ANOVA.