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  • Review Article
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Macrophage and T cell networks in adipose tissue

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 20, pages 50–61 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The signals and structure of the tissues in which leukocytes reside critically mould leukocyte function and development and have challenged our fundamental understanding of how to define and categorize tissue-resident immune cells. One specialized tissue niche that has a powerful effect on immune cell function is adipose tissue. The field of adipose tissue leukocyte biology has expanded dramatically and has revealed how tissue niches can shape immune cell function and reshape them in a setting of metabolic stress, such as obesity. Most notably, adipose tissue macrophages and T cells are under intense investigation due to their contributions to adipose tissue in the lean and obese states. Both adipose tissue macrophages and T cells have features associated with the metabolic function of adipose tissue that are distinct from features of macrophages and T cells that are classically characterized in other tissues. This Review provides state-of-the-art understanding of adipose tissue macrophages and T cells and discusses how their unique niche can help us to better understand diversity in leukocyte responses.

Key points

  • Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) and adipose tissue T cells interact in the unique adipose microenvironment, and their functions change dynamically with obesity.

  • Crosstalk between adipocytes, ATMs and adipose tissue T cells during obesity has important roles in contributing to the development of metabolic disease.

  • Our view of ATM diversity has been expanded by transcriptomic and experimental evidence, which revealed how ATMs diverge from classic macrophages.

  • Adipose tissue T cells become exhausted during obesity owing to chronic antigen stimulation within the adipose tissue microenvironment, and the antigens that drive these responses are under investigation.

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Fig. 1: Two perspectives on immunometabolism.
Fig. 2: ATM diversity.
Fig. 3: Functions of ATMs.
Fig. 4: Induction and expansion of VAT Treg cells.
Fig. 5: Integration of adipocyte, ATM and adipose tissue T cell signalling during obesity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Ramiah D. Jacks & Carey N. Lumeng

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Carey N. Lumeng

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Jacks, R.D., Lumeng, C.N. Macrophage and T cell networks in adipose tissue. Nat Rev Endocrinol 20, 50–61 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00908-2

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