During hypertension, vascular remodeling allows the blood vessel to withstand high blood pressure (BP). This process is well characterized in the media and intima layers of the vessel. In the perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) there is evidence for fibrosis development during hypertension; but PVAT remodeling is poorly understood. In stem cells (i.e., adipocyte progenitors) from non-PVAT depots, mechanical forces affect adipogenesis' commitment and lipogenic stages. The mechanism involves PIEZO1, a mechanosensor that boosts the differentiation of preadipocytes towards osteogenic and fibroblastic lineages. However, PVAT's particular anatomical location continuously exposes it to forces generated by blood flow that could affect adipogenesis during normotensive and hypertensive states. Our objective was to evaluate PIEZO1's role in the adipogenic potential of preadipocytes. We hypothesize that activation of PIEZO1 reduces Adipogenesis in PVAT preadipocytes. Aortic (APVAT) was collected from male SD rats at 10 weeks of age (n=15) to harvest preadipocytes by Liberase™ digestion. Nonselective cationic channel PIEZO1 activity was evaluated with Ca
2+
indicator Fluo-4AM.
Piezo1
was reduced with siRNA. Preadipocytes were differentiated for 4 d in adipogenic media containing PIEZO1 agonist Yoda1 (CON=0; YODA1=10μM). Mechanical strain (MS) was applied with FlexCell System at 12%, half-sine at 1 Hz for 4 d (MS+; MS-). Adipogenesis was evaluated by quantification of adipogenic gene network expression using PCR; lipid accumulation using lipophilic stains (Bodipy, siRNA experiments) or Oil Red O (FlexCell experiments). Adipogenesis efficiency is reported as Adipocyte/Total cells as measured in the IncuCyte Live-Cell
®
system. Yoda1 reduced adipogenesis by 33% compared with CON and as expected, increased cytoplasmic Ca
2+
. In si
Piezo1
cells, the anti-adipogenic effect of Yoda1 was reversed. MS+ reduced adipogenesis efficiency (0.15±0.06) compared with MS- (0.22±0.1). These data demonstrate that Piezo1 activation in PVAT may be an adaptive or pathogenic mechanism by which adipocyte populations are reduced, thus minimizing their secretion of vasoactive adipokines, and enhancing the deleterious impact of hypertension on PVAT function.
Yin Yang 1 and Adipogenic Gene Network Expression in Longissimus Muscle of Beef Cattle in Response to nutritional Management