Sympathetic nerve-adipocyte interactions in response to acute stress

• Published in: Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany) Vol. 100; no. 2; pp. 151 - 165
• Main Authors: Santos, Gabryella S. P., Costa, Alinne C., Picoli, Caroline C., Rocha, Beatriz G. S., Sulaiman, Sheu O., Radicchi, Debora C., Pinto, Mauro C. X., Batista, Miguel L., Amorim, Jaime H., Azevedo, Vasco A. C., Resende, Rodrigo R., Câmara, Niels O. S., Mintz, Akiva, Birbrair, Alexander
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-02-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Adipocytes - metabolism; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Gluconeogenesis; Hepatocytes; Human Genetics; Humans; Inflammatory diseases; Interleukin 6; Interleukin-6 - metabolism; Internal Medicine; Microenvironments; Molecular Medicine; Molecular modelling; Review; Stress, Psychological - metabolism; Sympathetic nerves; Sympathetic Nervous System - metabolism; Therapeutic applications; Tumor Microenvironment; Sympathetic nerves; Adipocytes; Microenvironment; Hepatocytes; IL-6
• ISSN: 0946-2716; 1432-1440
• DOI: 10.1007/s00109-021-02157-0

Psychological stress predisposes our body to several disorders. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the physiological responses to psychological stress is essential for the success of therapeutic applications. New studies show, by using in vivo inducible Cre/loxP-mediated approaches in combination with pharmacological blockage, that sympathetic nerves, activated by psychological stress, induce brown adipocytes to produce IL-6. Strikingly, this cytokine promotes gluconeogenesis in hepatocytes, that results in the decline of tolerance to inflammatory organ damage. The comprehension arising from this research will be crucial for the handling of many inflammatory diseases. Here, we review recent advances in our comprehension of the sympathetic nerve-adipocyte axis in the tissue microenvironment.