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Research Project: Impact of Maternal Influence and Early Dietary Factors on Child Growth, Development, and Metabolic Health

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Title: A modest change in housing temperature alters whole body energy expenditure and adipocyte thermogenic capacity in mice

Author
item SADLER, DANIEL - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item TREAS, LILLIE - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item SIKES, JAMES - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item PORTER, CRAIG - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)

Submitted to: American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/4/2022
Publication Date: 11/9/2022
Citation: Sadler, D.G., Treas, L., Sikes, J.D., Porter, C. 2022. A modest change in housing temperature alters whole body energy expenditure and adipocyte thermogenic capacity in mice. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism. 323:E517-E528. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00079.2022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00079.2022

Interpretive Summary: Housing mice at 30C reduced the basal and total energy expenditure compared with 24C , which was accompanied by a reduction in brown adipose tissue UCP1 content. Proteomic profiling demonstrated the brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue proteomes were largely influenced by housing temperature and sex, respectively. Therefore, 30C housing revealed sexual dimorphism in the white adipose tissue proteome that was largely absent in animals housed at 24C .

Technical Abstract: Typical vivarium temperatures (20–26C) induce facultative thermogenesis in mice, a process attributable in part to uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1). The impact of modest changes in housing temperature on whole body and adipose tissue energetics in mice remains unclear. Here, we determined the effects of transitioning mice from 24C to 30C on total energy expenditure and adipose tissue protein signatures. C57BL/6J mice were housed at 24C for 2 wk and then either remained at 24C (n = 16/group, 8M/8F) or were transitioned to 30C (n = 16/group, 8M/8F) for 4 wk. Total energy expenditure and its components were determined by indirect calorimetry. Interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT) and inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) proteins were quantified by Western blot and quantitative proteomics. Transitioning from 24C to 30C reduced total energy expenditure in both male (25%) and female (16%) mice, which was attributable to lower basal energy expenditure in males (3 6%) and females (40%). Total iBAT UCP1 protein content was 50% lower at 30C compared with 24C, whereas iWAT UCP1 protein content was similar between conditions. iBAT UCP1 protein content remained 20-fold greater than iWAT at 30C. In iBAT and iWAT, 183 and 41 proteins were differentially expressed between 24C and 30C, respectively. iWAT proteins (257) differentiallyexpressed between sexes at 30C were not differentially expressed at 24C. Thus, 30C housing lowers total energy expenditure of mice when compared with an ambient temperature (24C) that falls within the National Research Council’s guidelines for housing laboratory mice. Lower iBAT UCP1 content accompanied chronic housing at 30C. Furthermore, housing temperature influences sexual dimorphism in the iWAT proteome. These data have implications regarding the optimization of preclinical models of human disease.