Homeostasis of Adipose Tissue Macrophages

Adipose tissue macrophages are a heterogeneous component of adipose tissue with poorly defined ontogeny. I test the hypothesis that macrophage populations in murine adipose have distinct ontogenies that determine their functions. In Aim 1, I identify resident and recruited adipose macrophage populations using three complementary cell-tracking techniques. In Aim 2, I characterize the transcriptomes of resident and recruited adipose macrophages. In Aim 3, I increase the expression of either a macrophage recruitment factor or a macrophage growth factor in adipose. Overall, I conclude that there are distinct populations of resident and recruited macrophages in adipose and that macrophage ontogeny is an important factor that determines phenotype.