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。     

脂滴包被蛋白(perilipin)调控脂肪分解

脂滴包被蛋白（perilipin）包被在脂肪细胞和甾体生成细胞脂滴表面。基础状态下perilipin可减少甘油三酯水解,使其贮备增加;脂肪分解时磷酸化的perilipin能促进甘油三酯水解,而且该蛋白对激素敏感脂酶从胞浆向脂滴转位是必需的。据推测,perilipin可能在脂肪分解调控中起到“分子开关”的作用。蛋白激酶A（PKA）、细胞外信号调节激酶（ERK）等信号转导通路参与了脂肪分解。肿瘤坏死因子仅（TNFα）、过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体γ（PPAγ）激动剂、瘦素（leptin）均可以影响perilipin的表达。新近研究表明,perilipin可通过蛋白酶体途径来调节其蛋白量的表达。脂肪分解调控中的关键蛋白perilipin可以和2型糖尿病、肥胖、动脉粥样硬化等多种代谢性疾病及心血管疾病联系起来。     

Fsp27基因沉默载体的构建及其对细胞脂解的影响研究

构建脂肪特异性蛋白27(Fat-specific protein of 27,Fsp27)基因沉默载体,研究沉默Fsp27基因表达对3T3-L1细胞脂解的影响,并对其作用机制进行探究。采用RNAi技术,构建Fsp27基因真核干扰载体,下调Fsp27基因的表达。“鸡尾酒”法诱导3T3-L1前脂肪细胞分化为成熟脂肪细胞。脂质体转染脂肪细胞,油红O染色脂滴,酶法测定细胞中甘油及甘油三酯的含量。Western blot法检测细胞中Fsp27、HSL、ATGL和PPARγ的蛋白表达。Western blot结果显示:阳性sh-Fsp27干扰载体均能有效下调Fsp27的表达,且伴随细胞内ATGL和PPARγ的表达量升高(P<0.05),其中sh-Fsp27-2的沉默效果最好;酶学方法检测结果显示:阳性sh-Fsp27干扰组细胞中甘油三酯含量下降,甘油含量升高(P<0.05);油红O染色结果发现:空白对照组与阴性对照组均有大脂滴堆积,阳性sh-Fsp27组小脂滴分布广泛,未见明显的大脂滴。sh-Fsp27-2组基因沉默载体的沉默效果最好,Fsp27基因沉默可以加快3T3-L1细胞的脂解速率,其主要是通过抑制脂滴融合和增强ATGL酶的水解来完成对脂解的调控。     

一种调控脂解的重要蛋白——围脂滴蛋白(Perilipin)

围脂滴蛋白（perilipin）是脂滴相关蛋白家族的核心成员之一,是定位于脂滴表面的高磷酸化的蛋白,对脂肪组织中甘油三酯的代谢有双重调节作用,既可通过阻止脂肪酶接近脂滴降低基础状态下的脂解,又可促进激素刺激的脂肪分解.Perilipin在脂代谢中发挥重要作用,其表达调控可能与肥胖及其相关代谢疾病如糖尿病、胰岛素抵抗等有重要关系.本文主要介绍了perilipin的发现、命名、结构特征以及激素和转录因子对perilipin的调控,并阐述了其与相关脂肪酶间的相互作用.目前的研究主要集中于围脂滴蛋白（perilipin）和激素敏感脂肪酶（HSL）之间,与新近发现的脂肪酶脂肪三酰甘油脂酶（ATGL）的相互作用则有待于进一步研究.     

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。     

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。     

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。     

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。     

对脂肪滴的新认识

早在 1674 年, van Leeuwenhoeck 就首次在牛奶里发现了脂肪滴 . 从那以后, 300 多年过去了,有关脂肪滴的许多根本问题仍然没有得到解决 . 迄今,除有为数不多的几个脂肪滴表面蛋白被发现外,人类对脂肪滴的认识仍停留在其作为中性脂贮存器上 . 为了更好地认识脂肪滴,我们以及其他几个研究小组分别从不同细胞中纯化了脂肪滴,然后使用质谱蛋白分析对这些脂肪滴的蛋白质进行了蛋白质组学研究,从中发现了两组非常有意义的功能蛋白 . 一组是与脂肪合成及代谢有关的酶,另一组则是与膜转运有关的蛋白质 . 尽管这些实验使用了不同的细胞,而且是由不同实验室分别完成的,但结果却非常相似 . 这些发现表明,脂肪滴有可能是一种具有生理代谢活性的非常复杂的细胞器 . 同时,它有可能参与细胞内的脂肪合成、代谢及转运 . 这篇综述将重点介绍近年来的脂肪滴蛋白质组学研究进展,以及由此推测的脂肪滴的生理功能 . 如果读者希望了解脂肪滴的其他方面内容,请阅读 Denis Murphy 发表于 2001 年的一篇非常完整的综述 .     

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...     

Fat-specific Protein 27 Undergoes Ubiquitin-dependent Degradation Regulated by Triacylglycerol Synthesis and Lipid Droplet Formation

The fat-specific protein 27 (Fsp27), a protein localized to lipid droplets (LDs), plays an important role in controlling lipid storage and mitochondrial activity in adipocytes. Fsp27-null mice display increased energy expenditure and are resistant to high fat diet-induced obesity and diabetes. However, little is known about how the Fsp27 protein is regulated. Here, we show that Fsp27 stability is controlled by the ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal degradation pathway in adipocytes. The ubiquitination of Fsp27 is regulated by three lysine residues located in the C-terminal region. Substitution of these lysine residues with alanines greatly increased Fsp27 stability and enhanced lipid storage in adipocytes. Furthermore, Fsp27 was stabilized and rapidly accumulated following treatment with β-agonists that induce lipolysis and fatty acid re-esterification in adipocytes. More importantly, Fsp27 stabilization was dependent on triacylglycerol synthesis and LD formation, because knockdown of diacylglycerol acyltransferase in adipocytes significantly reduced Fsp27 accumulation in adipocytes. Finally, we observed that increased Fsp27 during β-agonist treatment preferentially associated with LDs. Taken together, our data revealed that Fsp27 can be stabilized by free fatty acid availability, triacylglycerol synthesis, and LD formation. The stabilization of Fsp27 when free fatty acids are abundant further enhances lipid storage, providing positive feedback to regulate lipid storage in adipocytes.     

The Lipid Droplet Protein Hypoxia-inducible Gene 2 Promotes Hepatic Triglyceride Deposition by Inhibiting Lipolysis

The liver is a major site of glucose, fatty acid, and triglyceride (TG) synthesis and serves as a major regulator of whole body nutrient homeostasis. Chronic exposure of humans or rodents to high-calorie diets promotes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, characterized by neutral lipid accumulation in lipid droplets (LD) of hepatocytes. Here we show that the LD protein hypoxia-inducible gene 2 (Hig2/Hilpda) functions to enhance lipid accumulation in hepatocytes by attenuating TG hydrolysis. Hig2 expression increased in livers of mice on a high-fat diet and during fasting, two states associated with enhanced hepatic TG content. Hig2 expressed in primary mouse hepatocytes localized to LDs and promoted LD TG deposition in the presence of oleate. Conversely, tamoxifen-inducible Hig2 deletion reduced both TG content and LD size in primary hepatocytes from mice harboring floxed alleles of Hig2 and a cre/ERT2 transgene controlled by the ubiquitin C promoter. Hepatic TG was also decreased by liver-specific deletion of Hig2 in mice with floxed Hig2 expressing cre controlled by the albumin promoter. Importantly, we demonstrate that Hig2-deficient hepatocytes exhibit increased TG lipolysis, TG turnover, and fatty acid oxidation as compared with controls. Interestingly, mice with liver-specific Hig2 deletion also display improved glucose tolerance. Taken together, these data indicate that Hig2 plays a major role in promoting lipid sequestration within LDs in mouse hepatocytes through a mechanism that impairs TG degradation.     

HILPDA Uncouples Lipid Droplet Accumulation in Adipose Tissue Macrophages from Inflammation and Metabolic Dysregulation

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Perilipin A is essential for the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase during lipolytic activation

Akey step in lipolytic activation of adipocytes is the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) from the cytosol to the surface of the lipid storage droplet. Adipocytes from perilipin-null animals have an elevated basal rate of lipolysis compared with adipocytes from wild-type mice, but fail to respond maximally to lipolytic stimuli. This defect is downstream of the beta-adrenergic receptor-adenylyl cyclase complex. Now, we show that HSL is basally associated with lipid droplet surfaces at a low level in perilipin nulls, but that stimulated translocation from the cytosol to lipid droplets is absent in adipocytes derived from embryonic fibroblasts of perilipin-null mice. We have also reconstructed the HSL translocation reaction in the nonadipocyte Chinese hamster ovary cell line by introduction of GFP-tagged HSL with and without perilipin A. On activation of protein kinase A, HSL-GFP translocates to lipid droplets only in cells that express fully phosphorylatable perilipin A, confirming that perilipin is required to elicit the HSL translocation reaction. Moreover, in Chinese hamster ovary cells that express both HSL and perilipin A, these two proteins cooperate to produce a more rapidly accelerated lipolysis than do cells that express either of these proteins alone, indicating that lipolysis is a concerted reaction mediated by both protein kinase A-phosphorylated HSL and perilipin A.     

Fsp27/CIDEC is a CREB target gene induced during early fasting in liver and regulated by FA oxidation rate

FSP27 [cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector c (CIDEC) in humans] is a protein associated with lipid droplets that downregulates the fatty acid oxidation (FAO) rate when it is overexpressed. However, little is known about its physiological role in liver. Here, we show that fasting regulates liver expression of Fsp27 in a time-dependent manner. Thus, during the initial stages of fasting, a maximal induction of 800-fold was achieved, whereas during the later phase of fasting, Fsp27 expression decreased. The early response to fasting can be explained by a canonical PKA-CREB-CRTC2 signaling pathway because: i) CIDEC expression was induced by forskolin, ii) Fsp27 promoter activity was increased by CREB, and iii) Fsp27 expression was upregulated in the liver of Sirt1 knockout animals. Interestingly, pharmacological (etomoxir) or genetic (Hmgcs2 interference) inhibition of the FAO rate increases the in vivo expression of Fsp27 during fasting. Similarly, CIDEC expression was upregulated in HepG2 cells by either etomoxir or HMGCS2 interference. Our data indicate that there is a kinetic mechanism of autoregulation between short- and long-term fasting, by which free FAs delivered to the liver during early fasting are accumulated/exported by FSP27/CIDEC, whereas over longer periods of fasting, they are degraded in the mitochondria through the carnitine palmitoyl transferase system.     

下调Fsp27基因表达联合杨梅素干预对3T3-L1细胞脂解的影响

目的:下调脂肪特异性蛋白27(Fsp27)基因表达联合杨梅素干预,观察对3T3-L1细胞中脂质代谢的影响,并探究脂滴发生、发展变化的调控机制。方法:常规培养3T3-L1前脂肪细胞,采用"鸡尾酒"法诱导其分化为成熟脂肪细胞。脂质体法转染sh-Fsp27干扰载体,以杨梅素浓度为100μmol/L的完全培养基干预成熟脂肪细胞72h。油红O染色,观察脂滴形态及大小的变化;酶法测定细胞内甘油及甘油三酯的含量,观察细胞脂质代谢的变化。Western blot检测Fsp27、激素敏感性甘油三酯脂肪酶(HSL)、甘油三酯脂肪酶(ATGL)以及丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(MAPK)信号通路蛋白的表达。结果:1. 3T3-L1细胞诱导分化后,形态由纤维样变成圆形,并伴随有细胞体积的增大。2.与对照组相比,杨梅素组和转染组细胞中甘油三酯含量下降,甘油含量升高(P 0. 05)。与其他三组相比,联合干预组细胞中甘油三酯含量减少,甘油含量增加(P 0. 05)。3.与对照组相比,其余三组细胞内Fsp27蛋白的表达量均降低,ATGL和PPARγ的表达量升高(P 0. 05)。另外,联合干预组和杨梅素组细胞内HSL的表达量和p-p38MAPK/p38MAPK的比值均大于sh-Fsp27组和对照组(P 0. 05)。结论:1. Fsp27基因沉默与杨梅素联合干预可以更大程度地促进脂肪分解代谢。2.杨梅素可通过激活MAPK信号通路,上调HSL和ATGL的蛋白表达来发挥其促脂解的作用; sh-Fsp27干扰载体通过调节PPARγ和Fsp27蛋白的表达,增加ATGL含量来加速脂肪分解。