Cold exposure produces adaptive hyperplasia and growth of brown adipose tissue (BAT), the major site of non-shivering thermogenesis in rodents, associated with increased angiogenesis in this tissue. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), one of the most potent angiogenic factors, was found to be expressed abundantly in BAT of the rat. When rats were exposed to cold at 4 °C, the VEGF mRNA level in BAT was increased by 2-3-fold in 1-4 h, but returned to the basal level within 24 h. VEGF expression in other tissues such as heart, kidney and lung did not change after cold exposure. The cold-induced increase in VEGF mRNA was abolished by surgical sympathetic denervation, but mimicked by administration of noradrenaline or a β3-adrenoceptor agonist CL316,243, indicating the critical role of the β-adrenergic pathway in VEGF expression in BAT. Among three isoforms of VEGF, the mRNA of a short form (VEGF120) lacking heparin-binding activity was preferentially increased after cold exposure and treatment with the adrenergic agonists. These results suggest that cold exposure activates the sympathetic nerves and leads to a rapid increase in synthesis of VEGF in BAT, which in turn stimulates the proliferation of surrounding vascular endothelial cells.
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November 1997
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Research Article|
November 15 1997
Adrenergic activation of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression in rat brown adipose tissue: implication in cold-induced angiogenesis Available to Purchase
Atsushi ASANO;
Atsushi ASANO
*Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan
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Masami MORIMATSU;
Masami MORIMATSU
*Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan
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Hideki NIKAMI;
Hideki NIKAMI
*Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan
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Toshihide YOSHIDA;
Toshihide YOSHIDA
†First Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602, Japan
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Masayuki SAITO
Masayuki SAITO
1
*Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan
1To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
December 13 1996
Revision Received:
June 27 1997
Accepted:
July 21 1997
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
The Biochemical Society, London © 1997
1997
Biochem J (1997) 328 (1): 179–183.
Article history
Received:
December 13 1996
Revision Received:
June 27 1997
Accepted:
July 21 1997
Citation
Atsushi ASANO, Masami MORIMATSU, Hideki NIKAMI, Toshihide YOSHIDA, Masayuki SAITO; Adrenergic activation of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression in rat brown adipose tissue: implication in cold-induced angiogenesis. Biochem J 15 November 1997; 328 (1): 179–183. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/bj3280179
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