Keywords

Adiponectin; AdipoRon; Fat; Taste; Fatty acids; CD36

Abstract

Taste is a major driving force that influences food choice and dietary intake. Animals' taste abilities vary due to genetics, sex, age, and hormonal status. There is evidence that several appetite-regulating hormones can modulate gustatory detection of fat, and this hormonal modulation of fat taste likely influences food palatability and selection, thereby altering fat intake. Adiponectin is a key metabolic hormone predominantly released from adipose tissue, which enhances insulin sensitivity and stimulates glucose and fatty acid metabolism. Adiponectin receptors are highly expressed in the taste system, indicating that adiponectin signaling may play an important role in the modulation of gustatory function. The goal of this dissertation was to explore how adiponectin signaling affects fatty acid detection in the gustatory system, thereby potentially altering dietary fat intake. We investigated the effect of AdipoRon, an adiponectin receptor agonist, on taste cell responses to fatty acids, the prototypical stimuli for fat taste. The findings suggest that AdipoRon selectively enhances cellular responses to fatty acids but not to a mixture of sweet, bitter, and umami tastants by mediating the activation of AMPK and translocation of CD36 in immortalized human fungiform taste cells. Additionally, we examined the molecular mechanism underlying the physiological effects of adiponectin on fat taste in mice. Our results indicate that adiponectin/AdipoRon increases cellular responses to fatty acids by mediating the activation of AMPK and translocation of CD36 in isolated mouse taste bud cells via its receptor AdipoR1. Lastly, we evaluated how fat taste responses and dietary fat intake are altered when AdipoR1 is disrupted. We observed that disruption of AdipoR1 in mice altered the animals’ cellular and behavioral taste responsiveness to fatty acids in a sex-dependent manner; however, little or no effect on dietary fat intake was found. Together, these studies demonstrate that adiponectin/AdipoR1 signaling plays crucial sex-specific roles in the modulation of fat taste and the maintenance of healthy body weight, primarily by regulating energy expenditure rather than dietary intake in mice.

Completion Date

2024

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Gilbertson, Timothy

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Medicine

Department

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences

Degree Program

Biomedical Sciences

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

DP0028889

URL

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1493&context=etd2023

Language

English

Rights

In copyright

Release Date

2-15-2025

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Campus Location

Health Sciences Campus

Accessibility Status

Meets minimum standards for ETDs/HUTs

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