脂滴与胞内细胞器互作研究进展

细胞器通过接触及分工协作以实现彼此间的物质交换和信息交流。脂滴是细胞内中性脂的主要贮存场所,但其功能却远不止于此;它还能与内质网、线粒体、溶酶体、细胞核等多种细胞器发生相互作用,共同完成包括脂代谢、膜转运以及信号转导等一系列生理功能的调控。该文整理并归纳了脂滴与胞内细胞器间的接触及动态互作的最新研究进展。对脂滴与胞内细胞器间互作机制及功能的研究不仅拓宽了对脂滴生物学的认知,也有助于进一步理解代谢性疾病的相关发病机制。     

脂滴——细胞脂类代谢的细胞器

脂滴是细胞内中性脂贮存的主要场所,由极性单磷脂层包裹疏水核心组成。近年来的蛋白质组学研究表明,脂滴表面还存在着许多功能蛋白,进一步揭示了脂滴可能参与细胞内物质的代谢和转运,以及细胞信号传导等过程,是一个活动旺盛的多功能细胞器。实验结果还证明,脂滴不但是甘油三酯贮存和分解、花生四烯酸代谢和前列腺素合成的主要场所,脂滴还具有合成甘油三酯和磷酯的功能。由此可见,脂滴可能是细胞内参与脂类合成代谢的细胞器。     

高内涵脂滴三维影像定量分析研究细胞内的脂质储存

摘要 目的：研究细胞内脂滴含量的变化对肥胖、糖尿病等代谢性疾病发生发展的影响。方法：建立高内涵脂滴三维成像和定量分析系统,获得脂滴三维动态表型参数,例如细胞内脂滴的总体积量、脂滴平均体积、单一细胞内脂滴平均数量等指标。选择HeLa、AML-12、COS-7和3T3-L1四种细胞系进行油酸、基因沉默、酶活性抑制剂的处理,量化处理后四种细胞内的脂滴数量与大小的表型差异。结果：在加入油酸情况下,细胞随油酸浓度增加而生成更多、更大的脂滴,但AML-12细胞只有展现增加脂滴数量的变化表型;在HeLa细胞中进行19种中性脂合成通路上关键基因的转录表达沉默,发现需要同时双敲降两种甘油三酯合成酶DGAT1和DGAT2才能显着降低细胞内脂滴总体积储存量,但在COS-7细胞中只需要单敲降DGAT1即可降低脂滴存量;进一步使用了DGAT1/2抑制剂处理四种细胞后,发现对抑制剂响应可区分为两类细胞分组（HeLa、AML-12与COS-7、3T3-L1）的脂滴存量表型差异,其原因是DGAT1和DGAT2的转录表达谱在这两类细胞分组中的不同。结论：建立了高内涵脂滴三维成像和定量分析系统,量化了四种细胞系的脂滴数量与大小的表型差异,揭示了细胞的脂滴脂储存方式与蛋白酶表达谱的关系。     

脂滴与其他细胞器互作调控脂稳态的分子机制

随着影像技术的发展,越来越多的研究表明细胞器之间存在广泛的直接相互作用,其主要功能是参与物质运输、细胞器新生与生长、细胞器分裂与融合等.细胞器间的互作主要由定位于这些膜器表面的蛋白质分子相互作用介导,磷脂也在其中发挥作用.脂滴作为储存中性脂的细胞器,是细胞内脂质代谢的中心,同时对机体脂稳态的维持起着至关重要的作用.从脂...     

PAT蛋白抑制饥饿诱导的脂滴快速融合

目的:脂滴快速融合是增大脂滴直径的方式之一,但其研究相对少。本研究旨在建立脂滴快速融合的细胞模型,以便对其进行深入的生物学研究。方法:本研究使用大鼠肾成纤维细胞系NRK和小鼠前脂肪细胞系3T3-L1两种细胞系,先用油酸诱导细胞内产生大量脂滴,再使用饥饿缓冲液培养细胞,利用显微镜实时观测技术跟踪脂滴动态变化,建立脂滴快速融合的模型。而后在此模型中,加入自噬抑制剂或者以过表达CCT为阳性对照,过表达PAT蛋白(PLIN1、ADRP和TIP47),来探究它们在调控脂滴快速融合方面的功能。结果:饥饿缓冲液处理约3小时可诱导细胞发生脂滴快速融合,其融合速率很快,从脂滴接触到融合完成可发生在20秒内,显然不同于CIDE蛋白调控的缓慢脂滴融合过程。自噬抑制剂可以抑制自噬,但是并没有显著影响脂滴快速融合,说明饥饿诱导的脂滴快速融合不依赖于自噬。另发现,与过表达GFP相比,过表达定位于脂滴的GFP-CCT、GFP-PLIN1、GFP-ADRP或GFP-TIP47均能显著性抑制快速融合导致的脂滴变大的现象。结论:本研究建立了饥饿缓冲液诱导脂滴发生快速融合的细胞模型,并证明PAT蛋白(PLIN1、ADRP、TIP47)能抑制脂滴快速融合。     

脂滴与动脉粥样硬化的研究进展

脂肪组织是哺乳动物最重要的能量储存库,脂滴(LDs)是脂肪细胞的基本单位,是生物体胞浆中重要的亚细胞器,广泛存在于真核生物胞浆中,参与机体能量储存、甾体激素合成、应激等生理过程。LDs不仅存在于脂肪组织,在心肌、肝脏、骨骼肌、睾丸、肾脏等器官和组织中均有表达,其功能不尽相同。近年来研究表明心肌细胞脂滴代谢与动脉粥样硬化斑块发生与发展密切关联,本文将对脂滴与动脉粥样硬化的功能联系及其临床意义的研究进展进行总结。     

新型荧光探针mMaple3与mEos3.2应用于Fsp27介导脂滴融合的功能研究

目的:Fsp27已经被证明定位在脂滴上并且介导脂滴融合与增大。为研究Fsp27介导脂滴融合的动态分子机制,我们构建了Fsp27-mMaple3和Fsp27-mEos3.2两种新型荧光探针的融合蛋白并研究其对脂滴融合的功能影响,进而为研发Fsp27相关生理功能的光学显像技术奠定基础。方法:对照传统绿色荧光的融合蛋白Fsp27-EGFP,在共聚焦显微镜下观察Fsp27-mMaple3和Fsp27-mEos3.2两种新型融合蛋白的亚细胞定位和介导脂滴融合的功能,并利用荧光漂白恢复术(fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching,FRAP)以判断脂滴与脂滴之间是否存在脂的交换。结果:表达Fsp27-mMaple3和Fsp27-mEos3.2两种新型融合蛋白的细胞中脂滴显著增大;同时,融合蛋白皆集中在脂滴与脂滴的接触位点上,且中性脂的交换实验显示脂滴与脂滴之间可以相互连通。结论:我们建构的两种新型荧光探针融合蛋白Fsp27-mMaple3和Fsp27-mEos3.2保持了Fsp27介导脂滴融合的功能,并为我们进一步研发新型的超分辨光学显像技术提供功能基础。     

雷帕霉素对小鼠原代肝细胞脂滴形态和脂滴表面蛋白表达的影响

目的:探讨雷帕霉素(Rapamycin)对小鼠原代肝细胞脂滴形态和脂滴表面蛋白表达的影响。方法:采用胶原酶灌注方法分离和培养小鼠原代肝细胞,采用100μM油酸诱导肝细胞内脂肪的合成。采用0、10、20、50μM的雷帕霉素处理肝细胞12 hr后,利用中性脂肪染料Bodipy493/503对肝细胞内的脂滴进行染色,荧光显微镜下观察细胞脂滴形态和数量。定量试剂盒检测细胞内甘油三酯(TG)的含量利用Western blot检测不同浓度雷帕霉素处理的小鼠原代肝细胞脂滴表面蛋白ADRP的表达水平。结果:成功分离和培养了小鼠原代肝细胞,使用油酸处理能够明显增加原代肝细胞内脂滴的数量。随着体外雷帕霉素处理浓度的增加,荧光显微镜下观察发现原代肝细胞内脂滴的数量呈现明显的下降趋势,甘油三酯的含量也呈见明确的下降趋势,在20μM浓度下就表现出显著性差异。Western blot结果显示雷帕霉素能够在抑制肝细胞内脂肪储积的同时降低脂滴表面蛋白ADRP的表达水平,并且随着雷帕霉素处理浓度的增加,其对ADRP表达的抑制越明显。结论:雷帕霉素能够抑制肝细胞内中性脂肪的储积,同时降低脂滴表面蛋白ADRP的表达水平。也间接说明了mTOR信号通路能够影响肝细胞内脂肪的储积,也为脂肪肝的防治提供了一个新的实验基础。     

脂滴与线粒体相互作用的研究进展

肥胖和多种代谢类疾病的发生有着密切的关系,而导致肥胖的脂肪多以中性脂的形式储存于细胞的一种细胞器——脂滴中。越来越多的研究表明,脂滴能够和其它细胞器发生相互作用,而它和线粒体的相互作用可能与Ⅱ型糖尿病的形成密切相关:非正常的脂滴和线粒体的相互作用有可能是导致细胞胰岛素抵抗的重要原因。我们通过对脂滴表面蛋白质组学、脂滴与线粒体的空间位置,以及相关蛋白等研究的总结,结合本实验室的研究结果,对脂滴与线粒体相互作用的物质基础及可能方式、受骨骼肌有氧运动的影响,及其与骨骼肌胰岛素抵抗发生的关系等,进行了讨论。     

Lipid droplets: A dynamic organelle moves into focus

Lipid droplets (LDs) were perceived as static storage deposits, which passively participate in the energy homeostasis of both cells and entire organisms. However, this view has changed recently after the realization of a complex and highly dynamic LD proteome. The proteome contains key components of the fat mobilization system and proteins that suggest LD interactions with a variety of cell organelles, including the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and peroxisomes. The study of LD cell biology, including cross-talk with other organelles, the trafficking of LDs in the cell and regulatory events involving the LD coat proteins is now on the verge of leaving its infancy and unfolds that LDs are highly dynamic cellular organelles.     

Analogues of the Inhoffen–Lythgoe diol with anti-proliferative activity

The anti-proliferative activity of a series of ester- and amide-linked Inhoffen–Lythgoe side chain analogues is reported. Whereas the Inhoffen–Lythgoe diol was inactive in these studies, a number of aromatic and aliphatic ester-linked side chains demonstrated modest in vitro growth inhibition in two human cancepar cell lines, U87MG (glioblastoma) and HT-29 (colorectal adenocarcinoma). Structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies demonstrated the most active aromatic (13) and aliphatic (25 and 29) substituted analogues were approximately equipotent in U87MG and HT-29 cells. Further evaluation of 13, 25, and 29 indicated these analogues do not activate canonical vitamin D signaling nor antagonize Hedgehog (Hh) signaling. Thus, the cellular mechanism(s) that govern the anti-proliferative activity for this class of truncated vitamin D-based structures appears to be different from classical mechanisms previously identified for these scaffolds.     

Phospholipids and lipid droplets

Lipid droplets are ubiquitous cellular organelles that allow cells to store large amounts of neutral lipids for membrane synthesis and energy supply in times of starvation. Compared to other cellular organelles, lipid droplets are structurally unique as they are made of a hydrophobic core of neutral lipids and are separated to the cytosol only by a surrounding phospholipid monolayer. This phospholipid monolayer consists of over a hundred different phospholipid molecular species of which phosphatidylcholine is the most abundant lipid class. However, lipid droplets lack some indispensable activities of the phosphatidylcholine biogenic pathways suggesting that they partially depend on other organelles for phosphatidylcholine synthesis.     

Whole-genome RNAi screen identifies methylation-related genes influencing lipid metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans

Lipid droplets (LDs) are highly conserved multifunctional cellular organelles and aberrant lipid storage in LDs can lead to many metabolic diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms governing lipid dynamic changes remain elusive, and the high-throughput screen of genes influencing LD morphology was limited by lacking specific LD marker proteins in the powerful genetic tool Caenorhabditis elegans. In this study, we established a new method to conduct whole-genome RNAi screen using LD resident protein DHS-3 as a LD marker, and identified 78 genes involved in significant LD morphologic changes. Among them, mthf-1, as well as a series of methylation-related genes, was found dramatically influencing lipid metabolism. SREBP-1 and SCD1 homologs in C. elegans were involved in the lipid metabolic change of mthf-1(RNAi) worms, and the regulation of ATGL-1 also contributed to it by decreasing triacylglycerol (TAG) hydrolysis. Overall, this study not only identified important genes involved in LD dynamics, but also provided a new tool for LD study using C. elegans, with implications for the study of lipid metabolic diseases.     

Biogenesis of lipid droplets – how cells get fatter

Abstract

Lipid droplets are discrete organelles present in most cell types and organisms including bacteria, yeast, plants, insects and animals. Long considered as passive storage deposits, recent cell biology, proteomic and lipidomic analysis show that lipid droplets are dynamic organelles involved in multiple cellular functions. They have a central function in lipid distribution to different membrane-bound organelles and serve not only as main reservoirs of neutral lipids such as triglycerides and cholesterol but in addition, contain structural proteins, proteins involved in lipid synthesis and transmembrane proteins. A detailed model for how transmembrane proteins such as SNARE proteins can exist in lipid droplets is proposed.     

Phospholipids diffusion on the surface of model lipid droplets

Lipid droplets (LD) are organelles localized in the membrane of the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) that play an important role in metabolic functions. They consist of a core of neutral lipids surrounded by a monolayer of phosphoplipids and proteins resembling an oil-in-water emulsion droplet. Many studies have focused on the biophysical properties of these LDs. However, despite numerous efforts, we are lacking information on the mobility of phospholipids on the LDs surface, although they may play a key role in the protein distribution. In this article, we developed a microfluidic setup that allows the formation of a triolein–buffer interface decorated with a phospholipid monolayer. Using this setup, we measured the motility of phospholipid molecules by performing Fluorescent Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) experiments for different lipidic compositions. The results of the FRAP measurements reveal that the motility of phospholipids is controlled by the monolayer packing decorating the interface.