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Abstract

Excess adipose tissue is linked to an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. Weight loss is often prescribed to lower disease risk; however, weight loss is difficult to maintain, leading many individuals to regain lost weight. Repeated cycles of weight gain, termed weight cycling, increases risk for metabolic diseases beyond that of stable long-term obesity. Our group recently showed that weight-cycled mice have more adipose tissue mast cells than obese mice. New analyses show that mast cells subcluster into two unique populations: one with high expression of classical mast cell genes and another with elevated lipid handling genes, but reduced expression of classical mast cell markers. PURPOSE: My current project aims to elucidate the functional changes in mast cells associated with weight cycling by developing a culture model that replicates the induction of lipid handling in mast cells. METHODS: Bone marrow-derived mast cells were treated ± adipose tissue-conditioned media for 24 hours, followed by a 3-day wash period, and a second treatment ± adipose tissue-conditioned media. Flow cytometry was used to assess cell viability, mast cell surface markers (cKit and FcεR1), and lipid droplets (by Bodipy staining). RESULTS: Repeated treatment with adipose tissue-conditioned media significantly increased lipid droplets (pCONCLUSION: These results suggest that exposure to adipose tissue-conditioned media may be a useful model to replicate weight cycling in vitro. Future work will use our model to understand the development and function of lipid handling mast cells in weight cycling.

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