Role of NADPH Oxidase in Oxidative Stress and Aging

Abstract

As people age, their preferential adipose tissue stores tend to shift from subcutaneous to visceral, which could lead to diabetes, since visceral adipose tissue is insulin resistant. One of the proposed mechanisms for this shift is due to elevated levels of oxidative stress in adipose tissue cells due to aging, as a result of increased levels of NADPH oxidase (NOX). The goal of these experiments is to determine the existence and significance of this potential correlation. Visceral, subcutaneous, and stromal vascular adipose tissue samples from 18 week and 20 month old mice were probed for p47phox levels, a crucial component of NOX, and the levels of oxidative stress were also determined through a dinitrophenolhydrazine reaction in the OxyBlot analysis. In order to achieve these goals, electrophoresis gels were run, the gels were transferred through standard Western blot procedures, then probed with primary and secondary antibodies, and finally scanned and analyzed to determine differences in signal. As of yet, there have not been any statistically significant differences in oxidative stress levels determined in young and old mice, but further experiments will be conducted in order to validate these findings.