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Gender-specific effect of physical training on AQP7 protein expression in human adipose tissue

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Abstract

AQP7 is a glycerol channel in adipose tissue with a suggested role in controlling the accumulation of triglycerides and secondly development of obesity and type-2 diabetes. In the present study, we aimed to test the hypotheses that (1) AQP7 is localized to the capillaries within human adipose tissue, (2) genetic predisposition to type-2 diabetes is associated with a low expression of AQP7 in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and (3) physical training increases AQP7 expression in SAT. The cellular localization of AQP7 in adipose tissue was investigated by immunohistochemistry. The relative expression of AQP7 protein in abdominal SAT was analysed before and after ending a 10-week exercise training programme in first-degree relatives to type-2 diabetic patients and control individuals. Non-obese first-degree relatives to type-2 diabetic patients (n = 20) and control (n = 11) men and women participated in this study. By this, we find that AQP7 is localized to the capillary endothelial cells within adipose tissue. We were unable to evidence a link between a low AQP7 abundance in SAT and genetic predisposition type-2 diabetes. Instead we demonstrate that physical training influences the expression of AQP7 in SAT in a gender-specific manner. Thus, women responds by increasing the abundance of AQP7 by 2.2-fold (p = 0.03) whereas in men a reduced expression is observed (p = 0.00009), resulting in a more than twofold higher abundance of AQP7 in women as compared with men. In conclusion, the adipose tissue glycerol channel, AQP7, is regulated in response to physical training in a gender-dependent manner in SAT.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Helle Høyer, Inger Merete S. Paulsen, Bodil Kruse, Tina Drejer, Christian V. Westberg, Lene Trudsø and Annette Mengel for expert technical assistance. In addition, we would like to thank Emil Toft Brøndum and Peter Funch for kindly providing human adipose tissue samples. The Water and Salt Research Center at Aarhus University was established and funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (Danmarks Grundforskningsfond). J. L. was supported by grants from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Aarhus University. The study in relatives to type-2 diabetics was supported by grants from the Danish Diabetes Association, the Nordic Research Committee (Novo Nordisk Fonden), the Aarhus University Research Foundation, the Aage Louis Hansen Foundation and the Foundation for Promotion of Medical Science.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedicine, The Water and Salt Research Center, Health, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Allé 3, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark

    Janne Lebeck, Aleksandra Rojek, Søren Nielsen & Jeppe Praetorius

  2. The Medical Research Laboratories, Clinical Institute and Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    Torben Østergård & Sten Lund

  3. Department of Molecular Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Ernst-Martin Füchtbauer

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  1. Janne Lebeck
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  2. Torben Østergård
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  3. Aleksandra Rojek
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Correspondence to Janne Lebeck.

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Communicated by Guido Pozza.

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Lebeck, J., Østergård, T., Rojek, A. et al. Gender-specific effect of physical training on AQP7 protein expression in human adipose tissue. Acta Diabetol 49 (Suppl 1), 215–226 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-012-0430-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-012-0430-1

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