Adipocyte Metabolism Pre-conference Workshop 2012

Adipocyte Function and Immunometabolism

Thursday, September 20, 2012 1pm-5pm

San Antonio Convention Center - San Antonio, TX

Chair: Gerald Denis

It is well appreciated that chronic inflammation directly compromises insulin sensitivity in the adipocyte. Less well understood are the intracellular transcriptional networks that control adipogenesis in ‘white’ and ‘brown’ fat, how these respond to inflammatory, metabolically unhealthy environments; the crosstalk with the immune cell subtypes that infiltrate adipose depots; and how such processes might be manipulated for therapeutic benefit in insulin resistant obesity. Deeper understanding of adipocyte transcriptional programming, and transcription factor modifications; the role of infiltrating immune cells and the kinetics of their movements; the pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory balance of functions established over time; and depot- and sex-specific differences in adipose tissue function, are critically necessary to develop innovative therapeutics to treat obese, pre-diabetic patients and patients with Type 2 diabetes. The new field of immunometabolism seeks to address these issues.

Speakers and Topics

Gerald V. Denis, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology

Cancer Research Center and Flow Cytometry Core Facility

Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA

Basic functions of the adipocyte; methodological issues in flow cytometry analysis of stromal vascular fraction infiltrates of adipose tissue of humans and mouse models; body composition and sex differences in adipocyte depots including subcutaneous vs visceral depots; the ‘metabolically healthy obese’ phenotype and moderation of risk factors

Patrick Seale, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology

Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Transcriptional programming of adipocyte function through PRDM16 activity, and the molecular and cellular biology of ‘white’ and ‘brown’ fat; and the mobilization of mechanisms of ‘browning’ of white adipose tissue; new opportunities with mouse models of adipogenesis

 Carey N. Lumeng, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

and Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Mouse phenotyping of adipose tissue macrophages by flow cytometry and histology; immunometabolic insult; ‘crown like structures’ of pro-inflammatory macrophages; phenotypic plasticity of adipocytes and macrophages in insulin resistant obesity

Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, PhD

Departments of Microbiology and Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA

Immunometabolism and clinical studies of immune cell crosstalk with adipocytes in insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitive obesity; novel mechanisms of interaction among B cell and T cell subsets in Type 2 diabetes and how these influence adipocyte function

Learning Objectives

1. 1.To understand the complex roles of leukocyte populations that infiltrate adipose tissue in humans and animal models of diet-induced obesity
2. 2.To understand critical transcriptional programs that mediate origin and cell fate in adipogenesis in different adipose depots, and the factors that influence metabolic risk
3. 3.To understand the use of new tools and insights into systemic and local cellular crosstalk that controls the progression of insulin resistance, and how pathways might be targeted for novel therapeutic drug development.

Who Should Attend?

• Investigators who wish to learn the most recent thinking about the role of inflammation in the development of insulin resistance in adipocytes.
• Clinicians and basic scientists who are looking for new drug targets to improve adipogenesis and whole body insulin sensitivity in obese and pre-diabetic patients.
• Clinicians and basic scientists who are interested in the interactions of adipocytes with systemic and local factors in adipose depots that influence insulin sensitivity.
• Investigators who are interested in transcriptional networks critical for adipogenesis, including the PPAR and C/EBP families of transcription factors.
• Investigators who study white and brown adipose tissue in animal models.

Pricing: