Verification of mitochondrial network morphology in the process of browning induced by cold exposure in C57BL/6 mice

• Grant number: 17/05056-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2017
• End date: June 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Miguel Luiz Batista Junior
• Grantee: Fernando Penna Durr
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria Acadêmica. Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes (UMC). Campus da Sede Mogi das Cruzes. Mogi das Cruzes , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The adipose tissue is an important organ due to its high adaptation power to the environmental adversities beside controlling the energy stock. The white adipose tissue (WAT) provides substrates for the organism energy maintenance and the brown adipose tissue (BAT) is one of those responsible for the heat production through the adaptative thermogenesis process. It has been described in literature the same processes and stimuli that induce the adaptative thermogenesis in BAT can stimulate WAT adipocytes to acquire morphofunctional characteristics similar to those found in BAT adipocytes, a process described as browning. In this condition, it has an increase in the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), an uncoupling protein found in the inner membrane of mitochondrias. It is known that the mitochondria besides participating in the adaptative thermogenesis process they form a network in the cell's interior and its morphology is maintained through the mitochondrial dynamic process which involves fusion or fission. Deletions or imbalance of the proteins responsible for these processes generates an energy deficit for the cell. Since the browning can lead to an improvement in obesity, it is present in syndromes like cachexia and as far as we know it does not have studies of alterations in mitochondrial dynamics in browning, this project proposes to study possible alterations in mitochondrial dynamics during the browning process induced by cold exposure in C57BL/6 mice, evaluating the mitochondrial fission and fusion processes. (AU)