Defective adipose tissue development associated with hepatomegaly in cathepsin E-deficient mice fed a high-fat diet

Cathepsin E is an intracellular aspartic proteinase, which is predominantly distributed in immune-related and epithelial cells. However, the role of the enzyme in adipose tissues remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of cathepsin E-deficient (CatE−/−) mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), as a mouse model of obesity. HFD-fed CatE−/− mice displayed reduced body weight gain and defective development of white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT), compared with HFD-fed wild-type mice. Moreover, fat-induced CatE−/− mice showed abnormal lipid accumulation in non-adipose tissues characterized by hepatomegaly, which is probably due to defective adipose tissue development. Detailed pathological and biochemical analyses showed that hepatomegaly was accompanied by hepatic steatosis and hypercholesterolemia in HFD-induced CatE−/− mice. In fat-induced CatE−/− mice, the number of macrophages infiltrating into WAT was significantly lower than in fat-induced wild-type mice. Thus, the impaired adipose tissue development in HFD-induced CatE−/− mice was probably due to reduced infiltration of macrophages and may lead to hepatomegaly accompanied by hepatic steatosis and hypercholesterolemia.