Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tatsuya Iso, MD, PhD















JAHA: Tell us about the key findings from your recent article in JAHA.

Dr. Iso: PPARg induces expression of FABP4 and FAT/CD36 in capillary endothelial cells to promote FA transport into heart. This system is activated in the postprandial state after prolonged fasting.


JAHA: What are the major implications of this work?

Dr. Iso: Our findings identify capillary endothelium as promising target cells for controlling metabolism of energy substrates in the heart. That is, our demonstration in vivo opens a new research area on the role of trans-endothelial material transport system for the treatment and prevention of cardio-metabolic disease, such as heart failure and metabolic syndrome.


JAHA: How did you get the idea to do this study?

Dr. Iso: We found that FABP4 is strongly expressed in capillary endothelial cells, by immunohistochemistry. FABP4 is cytosolic fatty acid chaperon and one of the most famous PPARg target genes. These findings led me to come up with the idea.


JAHA: What was your biggest obstacle in completing this study?

Dr. Iso: While we were working on this project, a similar study was published in Journal of Clinical Investigation 2009 by Kanda et al.  Adding new data and new story was tough.


JAHA: What was your most unexpected finding?

Dr. Iso: Uptake of 125I-BMIPP in hearts was comparable between wild-type and endothelial PPARg KO mice during fasting. We expected remarkable difference. We finally found difference of fatty acid uptake after olive oil gavage.


JAHA: What do you plan to do next, based on these current findings?

Dr. Iso: We will estimate function of endothelial FABP4 and FAT/CD36 by generating endothelial-specific KO mice.


JAHA: What do you like to do in your free time?

Dr. Iso: I play with my kids. Ski,skate, watching movies, etc.


JAHA: What is your favorite sports team or musical group?


Dr. Iso: Lakers when I used to live in Los Angeles. Now, Japan national football team.


Profile originally published February 19, 2013





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