Metabolic Dysregulation and Adipose Tissue Fibrosis: Role of Collagen VI

Adipocytes are embedded in a unique extracellular matrix whose main function is to provide mechanical support, in addition to participating in a variety of signaling events. During adipose tissue expansion, the extracellular matrix requires remodeling to accommodate adipocyte growth. Here, we demonstrate a general upregulation of several extracellular matrix components in adipose tissue in the diabetic state, therefore implicating "adipose tissue fibrosis" as a hallmark of metabolically challenged adipocytes. Collagen VI is a highly enriched extracellular matrix component of adipose tissue. The absence of collagen VI results in the uninhibited expansion of individual adipocytes and is paradoxically associated…

• UO
  University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• UO
  University of Glasgow
• KP
  Kementerian Pendidikan Nasional
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01-CA112023, R01-DK55758
• AE
  Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University