Brown Adipocyte-Specific PPARγ (Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ) Deletion Impairs Perivascular Adipose Tissue Development and Enhances Atherosclerosis in Mice.

Objective- Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) contributes to vascular homeostasis by producing paracrine factors. Previously, we reported that selective deletion of PPARγ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ) in vascular smooth muscle cells resulted in concurrent loss of PVAT and enhanced atherosclerosis in mice. To address the causal relationship between loss of PVAT and atherosclerosis, we used BA-PPARγ-KO (brown adipocyte-specific PPARγ knockout) mice.