# Adiponectin: Role in Vascular Adaptation Across the Lifespan

> **NIH NIH R56** · FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $397,300

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Aging is a primary risk factor for development of cardiovascular dysfunction and disease. The
hallmarks of vascular aging are endothelial dysfunction, development of a synthetic,
atherosclerotic phenotype in smooth muscle, and arterial inflammation and stiffening. We have
shown that aerobic exercise training can mitigate or reverse age-induced vascular dysfunction
and adverse arterial remodeling; however, the cellular signals that contribute to age-induced
vascular dysfunction and its reversal by aerobic exercise training remain unknown. Reduced
circulating adiponectin has been associated with all of the adverse vascular changes that occur
with advancing age; however, a direct role for adiponectin signaling in age-induced vascular
dysfunction has not been demonstrated. Similarly, although we have reported that circulating
adiponectin levels increase in response to late-life exercise training, a direct role for adiponectin
signaling in reversal of age-induced vascular dysfunction by exercise training has not been
shown. We now propose to test a central hypothesis that 1) loss of adiponectin signaling
is a critical contributor to age-related vascular dysfunction and adverse arterial
remodeling, and 2) upregulation of adiponectin signaling is necessary for exercise
training-induced reversal of age-related vascular dysfunction and adverse vascular
remodeling. We propose to study sedentary and exercise trained mice, across the murine
lifespan, to determine 1) the impact of loss- and gain-of-function of adiponectin on
ceramide/sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling in the endothelium of the resistance vasculature, 2)
the impact of loss- and gain-of-function of adiponectin on development of a senescence-
associated synthetic phenotype in vascular smooth muscle of the resistance vasculature, and 3)
the impact of loss- and gain-of-function of adiponectin on inflammation and fibrosis within the
arterial wall. Results from the proposed work will increase our understanding of the role of
adiponectin signaling in age- and exercise training-induced adaptations of the vasculature. A top
biomedical research priority is to identify strategies that prevent or reverse vascular dysfunction
with advancing age. The proposed work could identify 1) components of the adiponectin signaling
pathway that could be targeted for prevention of age-related vascular dysfunction, and 2) novel
exercise mimetics that could be employed in reversal of age-related vascular dysfunction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10231322
- **Project number:** 1R56AG068156-01
- **Recipient organization:** FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JUDY M DELP
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $397,300
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10231322

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10231322, Adiponectin: Role in Vascular Adaptation Across the Lifespan (1R56AG068156-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10231322. Licensed CC0.

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