Skin gamma delta T cells in Obesity. Mus musculus

Epithelial cells provide an initial line of defense against damage and pathogens in barrier tissues such as the skin; however this balance is disrupted in obesity and metabolic disease. Skin gamma delta T cells recognize epithelial damage and release cytokines and growth factors that facilitate wound repair. To determine the impact of obesity and metabolic disease on skin gamma delta T cells, we isolated skin gamma delta T cells from 10-week old C57BLKS/J lean db/+ and obese db/db animals for further study. Due to a deficiency in the leptin receptor (db), homozygous db/db animals do not process satiety signals, continually eat and develop severe obesity and metabolic disease. Skin gamma delta T cells isolated from these animals were compared for changes in mRNA expression using microarray. We have determined that obesity and metabolic disease negatively impacts homeostasis and functionality of skin gamma delta T cells, rendering host defense mechanisms vulnerable to injury and infection. Overall design: The goal of this experiment was to compare skin gamma delta T cells in a control mouse to skin gamma delta T cells isolated from an obese mouse to see what homeostatic changes occur in obesity and metabolic disease. gamma delta T cells were isolated from two 10-week old lean db/+ control and two 10-week old obese db/db animals for comparison. We wanted to determine which growth factors and signaling pathways were altered in skin gamma delta T cells residing in the obese environment.