Date on Senior Honors Thesis

5-2016

Document Type

Senior Honors Thesis

Department

Biology

Degree Program

College of Arts and Sciences

Author's Keywords

Adiponectin Receptors; cardiac muscle; liver; skeletal muscle; rat

Abstract

Both obesity and diabetes are domestic and international health problems. Adiponectin is a protein secreted from adipocytes and other tissues such as muscle which influences carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. For this reason, Adiponectin is a primary target for therapeutic treatment of metabolic diseases. Adiponectin interacts with receptors termed AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, which are structurally similar to G protein-coupled receptors except with a reverse membrane topology. The aim of this study is to determine the levels of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 within cardiac, skeletal, and liver tissue samples of mature non-obese rats. The objective of determining potential differences in the tissue levels of these receptors and determining any gender differences will be used to establish whether or not the rat could make a viable model for further study in adiponectin related research. Samples of tissue were homogenized, the lysate centrifuged to produce a fluid supernatant, and the supernatants’ protein content analyzed. AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 levels were determined by ELISA (NeoBiolab, Boston, MA). The data supports a difference (p≤ 0.02) in AdipoR1 levels between the liver and muscle tissues (gastrocnemius, soleus, and heart), as well as between the genders for the gastrocnemius and liver. The levels of AdipoR2 in the liver were also significantly lower than in muscles (heart and gastrocnemius), with significant differences (p≤ 0.01) between the genders for liver. The data from the current study supports previous work on the relative levels of AdipoR1 in muscle and liver, but does not identify any difference between muscle types. In addition, gender differences in the levels of AdipoR1 in gastrocnemius and liver are novel observations. However, the data from the current study contradicts that of previous reports, which had suggested that liver had a higher level of AdipoR2 than muscle tissue, indicating that further investigation and confirmation is necessary.

Lay Summary

Both obesity and diabetes are domestic and international health problems. Adiponectin is a protein secreted from fat cells and muscle tissue, which influences the metabolism of sugars and fats. For this reason, Adiponectin is a primary target for therapeutic treatment of these metabolic diseases. The aim of this study is to determine the levels of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 (the receptors for adiponectin) within cardiac, skeletal muscle, and liver tissue samples of mature non-obese rats in order to determine if the rat can be used as a model for studies of adiponectin. The data from the current study support previous work on the relative levels of AdipoR1 in muscle and liver tissues; however, the data from the current study contradict that of previous reports, which had suggested that liver had a higher level of AdipoR2 than muscle tissue, indicating that further investigation and confirmation is necessary to determine if the rat is a robust model for studies of adiponectin receptors.

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