Abstract
Adipose tissue plays a key role in the development of insulin resistance and its pathological sequelae, such as type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Dysfunction in the adipose tissue response to storing excess fatty acids as triglyceride can lead to adipose tissue inflammation and spillover of fatty acids from this tissue and accumulation of fatty acids as lipid droplets in ectopic sites, such as liver and muscle. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released from adipocytes and have been proposed to be involved in adipocyte/macrophage cross talk and to affect insulin signaling and transforming growth factor β expression in liver cells leading to metabolic disease. Furthermore EV produced by adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSC) can promote angiogenesis and cancer cell migration and have neuroprotective and neuroregenerative properties. ADSC EVs have therapeutic potential in vascular and neurodegenerative disease and may also be used to target specific functional miRNAs to cells. Obesity is associated with an increase in adipose-derived EV which may be related to the metabolic complications of obesity. In this review, we discuss our current knowledge of EV produced by adipose tissue and the potential impact of adipose tissue-derived EV on metabolic diseases associated with obesity.
Highlights
Over the last few decades adipose tissue and adipocyte function has been under extensive study due to their central role in energy homeostasis, obesity, and diabetes [1, 2]
While subcutaneous adipose tissue functions predominately benignly as a storage depot for excess fatty acids, visceral adipose tissue is more closely linked to the adverse metabolic and inflammatory profile observed in individuals with obesity and insulin resistance (IR) [8,9,10]
Circulating Extracellular vesicles (EVs) levels have been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [33, 36, 37] but the extent to which circulating EV derived from adipose tissue are involved is uncertain
Summary
Over the last few decades adipose tissue and adipocyte function has been under extensive study due to their central role in energy homeostasis, obesity, and diabetes [1, 2]. EVs are classified according to their size and the pathway by which they were produced (i.e., endocytic or plasma membrane). Microvesicles and apoptotic bodies are formed directly via blebbing of the plasma membrane, whereas exosomes are produced via an endocytic pathway [4]. With a wide range of inhibitory and stimulatory effects, EV can influence a variety of cell functions, including cytokine production, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metabolism [6]. These effects are mediated by the content of EV including RNA (mRNA, miRNA, and other RNAs), protein, and lipids [3]. The composition and function of EV derived from adipose tissue is poorly understood but of major interest due to the central role of obesity in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
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