Laboratory of Immunology and Inflammation, Department of Cell Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2020 Oct 6;11:563816. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.563816. eCollection 2020.
Obesity is a multifactorial and complex condition that is characterized by abnormal and excessive white adipose tissue accumulation, which can lead to the development of metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, and several types of cancer. Obesity is characterized by excessive adipose tissue accumulation and associated with alterations in immunity, displaying a chronic low-grade inflammation profile. Adipose tissue is a dynamic and complex endocrine organ composed not only by adipocytes, but several immunological cells, which can secrete hormones, cytokines and many other factors capable of regulating metabolic homeostasis and several critical biological pathways. Remarkably, adipose tissue is a major source of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), recently described as a novel form of adipokines. Several adipose tissue-derived miRNAs are deeply associated with adipocytes differentiation and have been identified with an essential role in obesity-associated inflammation, insulin resistance, and tumor microenvironment. During obesity, adipose tissue can completely change the profile of the secreted miRNAs, influencing circulating miRNAs and impacting the development of different pathological conditions, such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. In this review, we discuss how miRNAs can act as epigenetic regulators affecting adipogenesis, adipocyte differentiation, lipid metabolism, browning of the white adipose tissue, glucose homeostasis, and insulin resistance, impacting deeply obesity and metabolic diseases. Moreover, we characterize how miRNAs can often act as oncogenic and tumor suppressor molecules, significantly modulating cancer establishment and progression. Furthermore, we highlight in this manuscript how adipose tissue-derived miRNAs can function as important new therapeutic targets.
肥胖是一种多因素和复杂的病症,其特征是异常和过度的白色脂肪组织积累,这可能导致代谢疾病的发展,如 2 型糖尿病、非酒精性脂肪性肝病、心血管疾病和几种类型的癌症。肥胖的特征是脂肪组织过度积累,并与免疫改变相关,表现出慢性低度炎症特征。脂肪组织是一个动态而复杂的内分泌器官,不仅由脂肪细胞组成,还包括几种免疫细胞,这些细胞可以分泌激素、细胞因子和许多其他能够调节代谢平衡和几个关键生物途径的因子。值得注意的是,脂肪组织是循环 microRNAs (miRNAs) 的主要来源,最近被描述为一种新型的脂肪因子。几种脂肪组织衍生的 miRNAs 与脂肪细胞分化密切相关,并被确定在肥胖相关炎症、胰岛素抵抗和肿瘤微环境中具有重要作用。在肥胖期间,脂肪组织可以完全改变分泌的 miRNAs 谱,影响循环 miRNAs 并影响不同病理状况的发展,如肥胖、代谢综合征和癌症。在这篇综述中,我们讨论了 miRNAs 如何作为表观遗传调节剂影响脂肪生成、脂肪细胞分化、脂质代谢、白色脂肪组织的棕色化、葡萄糖稳态和胰岛素抵抗,从而深刻地影响肥胖和代谢疾病。此外,我们描述了 miRNAs 如何经常作为致癌和肿瘤抑制分子发挥作用,显著调节癌症的发生和进展。此外,我们在本文中强调了脂肪组织衍生的 miRNAs 如何作为重要的新治疗靶点发挥作用。