Fig. 2

CLS is a hallmark of obesity-induced chronic inflammation. Obesity induces inflammation and fibrosis in adipose tissue and the liver. Chronic inflammation leads to a characteristic histological structure termed “crown-like structure (CLS)” in which macrophages surround dead adipocytes, resulting in fibrosis. An innate immune receptor Mincle functions as a cell death sensor, which is selectively upregulated in the macrophages that constitute CLS in obese adipose tissue. Mincle regulates adipocyte death-triggered fibrogenesis and controls lipid storage function of adipose tissue, thereby affecting ectopic lipid accumulation in remote organs such as the liver. In nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, there is a structure similar to CLS in which macrophages surround dead hepatocytes with excessive lipids. Created with BioRender.com