Adipocyte Specific Tribbles1 Regulates Plasma Adiponectin and Plasma Lipids in Mice

The goal of this study is to understand the role of adipocyte-specific Trib1 in adiponectin and plasma lipid regulation. Here, we report that adipocyte-specific Trib1 knockout mice (Trib1_ASKO) have increased plasma adiponectin levels and decreased plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. We demonstrate that loss of Trib1 increases adipocyte production and secretion of adiponectin independent of the known TRIB1 function of regulating proteasomal degradation. RNA-seq analysis of adipocytes and livers from Trib1_ASKO mice suggests that alterations in adipocyte function underlie the plasma lipid changes observed in these mice. Secretomics and RNA-seq analysis revealed that Trib1_ASKO mice have increased production of Lpl and decreased production of Angptl4 in adipose tissue, and fluorescent substrate assays confirm an increase in adipose tissue Lpl activity, which likely underlies the observed triglyceride phenotype. In summary, we demonstrate here a novel role for adipocyte Trib1 in regulating plasma adiponectin, total cholesterol, and triglycerides in mice, confirming previous genetic associations observed in humans and providing a novel avenue through which Trib1 regulates plasma lipids and coronary artery disease. Individual adipocyte and hepatocyte mRNA profiles from 4 male wild-type and 4 male adipocyte-specific Trib1 knockout mice (16 samples overall)