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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374170
Research Project: Preventing the Development of Childhood Obesity

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Lymphocytes upregulate CD36 in adipose tissue and liver

Author
item COUTURIER, JACOB - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item NUOTIO-ANTAR, ALLI - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item AGARWAL, NEETI - Baylor College Of Medicine
item WILKERSON, GREGORY - Md Anderson Cancer Center
item SAHA, PRADIP - Baylor College Of Medicine
item KULKARNI, VIRAJ - Texas Biomedical Institute
item LAKHASHE, SAMIR - Texas Biomedical Institute
item ESQUIVEL, JUAN - Texas Biomedical Institute
item NEHETE, PRAMOD - Md Anderson Cancer Center
item RUPRECHT, RUTH - Texas Biomedical Institute
item SASTRY, JAGANNADHA - Md Anderson Cancer Center
item MEYER, JENNIFER - Md Anderson Cancer Center
item HILL, LORI - Md Anderson Cancer Center
item LAKE, JORDAN - University Of Texas
item BALASUBRAMANYAM, ASHOK - Baylor College Of Medicine
item LEWIS, DOROTHY - University Of Texas

Submitted to: Adipocytes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/13/2019
Publication Date: 4/30/2019
Citation: Couturier, J., Nuotio-Antar, A.M., Agarwal, N., Wilkerson, G.K., Saha, P., Kulkarni, V., Lakhashe, S.K., Esquivel, J., Nehete, P.N., Ruprecht, R.M., Sastry, J., Meyer, J.M., Hill, L.R., Lake, J.E., Balasubramanyam, A., Lewis, D.E. 2019. Lymphocytes upregulate CD36 in adipose tissue and liver. Adipocyte. 8(1):154-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/21623945.2019.1609202.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21623945.2019.1609202

Interpretive Summary: CD36 is a cellular fatty acid transporter. Not much is known about its role in T cells, a type of immune cell. We observed that in mice, monkeys, and humans, fat tissue and liver T cells have increased CD36 levels, especially in mice fed a high fat, high sucrose Western-type diet. Our findings point to a potential role for fatty acid uptake and metabolism in T cells in the context of diet-induced obesity and other pathologies that impact fat tissue and liver function.

Technical Abstract: CD36 is a multifunctional scavenger receptor and lipid transporter implicated in metabolic and inflammatory pathologies, as well as cancer progression. CD36 is known to be expressed by adipocytes and monocytes/macrophages, but its expression by T cells is not clearly established. We found that CD4 and CD8 T cells in adipose tissue and liver of humans, monkeys, and mice upregulated CD36 expression (ranging from ~5-40% CD36+), whereas little to no CD36 was expressed by T cells in blood, spleen, and lymph nodes. CD36 was expressed predominantly by resting CD38-, HLA.DR-, and PD-1- adipose tissue T cells in monkeys, and increased during high-fat feeding in mice. Adipose tissue and liver promote a distinct phenotype in resident T cells characterized by CD36 upregulation.