Does NF‐kappaB signaling regulate chemerin expression in adipocytes?

Obesity is associated with increased inflammatory markers such as IL‐1, IL‐6 and TNF‐alpha which are all dependent on the transcription factor NF‐kB. A greater adiposity leads to increased circulating levels of chemerin, a recently discovered adipokine found to play a role in adipocyte differentiation. Purpose to investigate the role of NF‐kB in chemerin expression in adipocytes. Methods 3T3‐L1 NIH cells were used and stimulated at various times and doses with TNF‐alpha and chemerin observing changes to the NF‐kB cascade activation. Results Chemerin markedly increased within 5 days during adipocyte differentiation process. TNF‐alpha stimulation increased p65 in a dose (up to 67%) and time dependent manner (from 15min to 2hr). TNF‐alpha also degraded IkB (94%), an inhibitor of NF‐kB, in a dose dependent manner (10ug to 20ug). TNF‐alpha stimulation, starting at low concentrations (~0.5ug) showed an increase in chemerin expression compared to control. Conclusion We showed that TNF‐alpha stimulation activated the NF‐kB pathway and increased chemerin expression in adipocytes. Thus chemerin expression could be dependent on NF‐kB cascade signaling.