Pannexin 1 and Adipose Tissue Samantha Elizabeth Adamson Fort
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Pannexin 1 and Adipose Tissue Samantha Elizabeth Adamson Fort Seybert, WV BA, Princeton University, 2006 MS, University of Virginia, 2013 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Pharmacology University of Virginia August, 2015 Norbert Leitinger, Ph.D. (Advisor) Doug Bayliss, Ph.D. Thurl Harris, Ph.D. Coleen McNamara, MD Bimal Desai, Ph.D. 2 Copyright Page 3 ABSTRACT Defective glucose uptake in adipocytes leads to impaired metabolic homeostasis and insulin resistance, hallmarks of type 2 diabetes. Extracellular ATP-derived nucleotides and nucleosides are important regulators of adipocyte function, but the pathway for controlled ATP release from adipocytes is unknown. Here, we investigated whether Pannexin 1 (Panx1) channels control ATP release from adipocytes and contribute to metabolic homeostasis. Our studies show that adipocytes express functional Pannexin 1 (Panx1) channels that can be activated to release ATP by known mechanisms including alpha adrenergic stimulation and caspase-mediated C-terminal cleavage during apoptosis. Further, we identify insulin as a novel activator of Panx1 channels. Pharmacologic inhibition or selective genetic deletion of Panx1 from adipocytes decreased insulin-induced glucose uptake in vitro and in vivo and exacerbated diet-induced insulin resistance in mice. In obese humans, Panx1 expression in adipose tissue is increased and correlates with the degree of insulin resistance. Although in other systems extracellular ATP has been shown to be chemotactic for immune cells such as macrophages, we observed no difference in the level of macrophage infiltration or inflammation in adipose tissue of diet- induced obese, insulin resistant AdipPanx1 KO mice, (mice in which Panx1 was selectively deleted in adipocytes). We also observed that deficiency of the ATP receptor P2Y2 on myeloid cells in mice did not affect glucose intolerance in a model of diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance. However, mice which lack P2Y2 receptors in myeloid cells show decreased crown-like structure formation in perigonadal adipose tissue although the amount of macrophages within the tissue are not different from WT mice. In conclusion, Panx1 channel activity controls metabolic homeostasis in adipocytes, namely through the regulation of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Who is wise and understanding among you? The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:13, 17 (ESV) I am immensely grateful for my advisor, Dr. Norbert Leitinger. His enthusiasm for science is contagious. I am thankful that he took a chance on a graduate student with zero experience in biology. He allowed me the utmost freedom to pursue questions and perform experiments which was an invaluable learning experience. My ideas and suggestions were rarely met with a “No” and I was able to gain experience in many different techniques. I am very thankful to have been given opportunities to travel to many conferences and to be involved in writing review articles and helping with grant submissions. There were times when my faith in projects flagged, but Norbert’s optimism never wavered that our studies would advance and be published. We had our share of obstacles and miscommunications along the way, but I am very proud of the work that we accomplished, and I have the highest regard for Dr. Leitinger. One of the greatest lessons I learned in the lab was to believe in my data and its importance. Many thanks to Rachael Griffiths and Poonam Sharma for teaching me everything from qPCR to mouse handling. Thank you for your expertise and your friendship. You turned a chemist into a biologist! I am grateful to Akshaya Meher for excellent initial work on the Panx1 project and continuing to be a valuable colleague. Kathryn, thank you for your eternal cheer and countless hours of image analysis! You are a true blessing. Thanks to other wonderful undergraduate students including Garren and Nathaniel. It has been a pleasure getting to know the newest members of the Leitinger Lab: Subbu and Gael. Subbu, thanks for many great science conversations, and I look forward to exciting Dab2 publications for years to come. Vlad, thank 5 you for taking over many of the lab management tasks when I felt like I just couldn’t order one more primer! I look forward to attending your PhD defense very soon, and I hope you take me up on my offer for any help I can give you! It has been an honor to be part of the Pharmacology Department at UVA. I have benefitted greatly from the wonderful spirit of collaboration in our department. I especially want to thank those involved in the Metabolic Interest Group, Pannexin Interest Group, and Cardiovascular Research Center Training Grant for giving great feedback through the years and presenting excellent research to ponder. I could not have gotten where I am without the help of Dr. Thurl Harris, Dr. Ira Schulman, and Dr. Bimal Desai. Thank you for always having an open door for experiment advice and life advice! I am also indebted to Dr. Susanna Keller for help in performing metabolic studies with the assistance of her technicians Natalie and Stefan. I am very thankful to our other collaborators for the Pannexin study including Dr. Douglas Bayliss, Joanna Sandilos, and Dr. Eva Chiu for electrophysiology studies, Dr. Coleen McNamara for human samples and also for being a great physician scientist role model for me, Dr. Brant Isakson and lab members, Dr. Shayn Peirce-Cottler and Scott Seaman for confocal microscopy. It was a pleasure to work with you! I would also like to thank Dr. Paula Barrett and Dr. Dean Kedes for advice along the way and for indefatigable support. I am so happy to have made many great friends during my time at UVA who have been a wonderful support. Many great happy hours and coffee walks! Monica, Janelle, Julia, Laura, Tash, you are the best! Dr. Michael Digruccio, thanks for hanging around UVA long enough to be introduced to me and for everything you do! Last but not least, I want to thank my dear family. One of the best things about coming to UVA was coming back close to home and wild, wonderful West Virginia and all of you. All my love! 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................ 6 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... 9 ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 15 1.1 ADIPOSE TISSUE: OBESITY AND DIABETES ........................................................................... 15 1.2 PURINERGIC SIGNALING IN ADIPOSE TISSUE ....................................................................... 21 1.3 PANNEXIN 1 CHANNELS ....................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2 : EXPERIMENTAL METHODS .......................................................................................... 23 2.1 MATERIALS ........................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 CELL CULTURE ...................................................................................................................... 23 2.3 ISOLATION OF PRIMARY ADIPOCYTES ................................................................................. 24 2.4 ADIPOCYTE GLUCOSE UPTAKE ............................................................................................. 25 2.5 ATP RELEASE FROM ISOLATED ADIPOCYTES ........................................................................ 26 2.6 WESTERN BLOT, COIMMUNOPRECIPITATION, MEMBRANE ENRICHMENT AND FRACTIONATION ........................................................................................................................ 27 2.7 ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 29 2.8 RNA ISOLATION AND qRT-PCR ............................................................................................. 30 2.9 ANIMAL CARE ....................................................................................................................... 30 2.10 MOUSE GENOTYPING ........................................................................................................ 31 2.11 DIET-INDUCED OBESITY MODEL ........................................................................................ 31 2.12 BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION ................................................................................ 32 2.13 ENDOTOXEMIA MODEL ..................................................................................................... 33 2.14 ADIPOSE TISSUE FLOW CYTOMETRY .................................................................................. 33 2.15