The Skinny on Fat Trm Cells Stanley Cheuk, Liv Eidsmo  Immunity  Volume 47, Issue 6, Pages 1012-1014 (December 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2017.12.003 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Adipose T Cells Provide Immunity at the Expense of Lipid Metabolism (Left) WAT stores energy through active lipid metabolism but also hosts a wide range of immune cells, including T cells. Han et al. (2017) showed that WAT contains a substantial pool of Trm cells. Microbial infection prompted the generation of antigen-specific Trm cells. Adipose Trm cells displayed a distinct phenotype characterized by a high turnover rate and active metabolism, as measured by lipid uptake and mitochondrial respiration. Upon re-challenge, adipose Trm cells displayed potent effector function, inducing inflammatory and antimicrobial responses in adipose tissue. Intriguingly, reactivation of adipose Trm cells led to a sharp decrease in lipid synthesis, indicating a delicate balance between lipogenesis and antimicrobial responses within adipose tissue. (Right) Both obesity and malnutrition are currently pressing global health issues. Malnutrition is often associated with a high burden of chronic infection, whereas obesity is associated with a number of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis. It remains to be investigated whether the metabolic trade-off during the antimicrobial response mediated by adipose Trm cells might play a role in these processes. Immunity 2017 47, 1012-1014DOI: (10.1016/j.immuni.2017.12.003) Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions