No in vitro effects of fatty acids on glucose uptake, lipolysis or insulin signaling in rat adipocytes.

Elevated plasma levels of free fatty acids (FFA) can produce insulin resistance in skeletal muscle tissue and liver and, together with alterations in beta-cell function, this has been referred to as lipotoxicity. This study explores the effects of FFAs on insulin action in rat adipocytes. Cells were incubated 4 or 24 h with or without an unsaturated FFA, oleate or a saturated FFA, palmitate (0.6 and 1.5 mM, respectively). After the culture period, cells were washed and insulin effects on glucose uptake and lipolysis as well as cellular content of insulin signaling proteins (IRS-1, PI3-kinase, PKB and phosphorylated PKB) and the insulin regulated glucose transporter GLUT4 were measured. No significant differences were found in basal or insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in FFA-treated cells compared to control cells, regardless of fatty acid concentration or incubation period. Moreover, there were no significant alterations in the expression of IRS-1, PI3-kinase, PKB and GLUT4 following FFA exposure. Insulin's ability to stimulate PKB phosphorylation was also left intact. Nor did we find any alterations following FFA exposure in basal or cAMP-stimulated lipolysis or in the ability of insulin to inhibit lipolysis. The results indicate that oleate or palmitate does not directly influence insulin action to stimulate glucose uptake and inhibit lipolysis in rat fat cells. Thus, lipotoxicity does not seem to occur in the fat tissue itself.     

Effects of exogenous fatty acids and cholesterol on aminopeptidase activities in rat astroglia

Several studies have addressed the interaction between fatty acids and lipids with central nervous system peptides. Because aminopeptidases (AP) are involved in the regulation of neuropeptides, this work studies several AP expressed in cultured astroglia, after exogenous addition of oleic and linoleic fatty acids and cholesterol to the culture medium. Alanyl-AP, arginyl-AP, cystyl-AP, leucyl-AP, tyrosyl-AP and pyroglutamyl-AP activities were analysed in whole cells using the corresponding aminoacyl-beta-naphthylamides as substrates. Oleic acid inhibits alanyl-AP, cystyl-AP and leucyl-AP activities, whereas linoleic acid inhibits alanyl-AP, arginyl-AP and tyrosyl-AP activities. Neither oleic acid nor linoleic acid modifies pyroglutamyl-AP activity. In contrast, cholesterol increases arginyl-AP, cystyl-AP, leucyl-AP, tyrosyl-AP and pyroglutamyl-AP activities, although it does not modify alanyl-AP activity. The changes reported here suggest that oleic and linoleic fatty acids and cholesterol can modulate peptide activities via their degradation route involving aminopeptidases; each of them being differentially regulated.     

Short-term effects of triiodothyronine on exogenous and de novo synthesized fatty acids in rat hepatocytes.

The short-term effect of T3 both on de novo synthesized and on exogenously added fatty acids was studied in isolated rat hepatocytes. Lipogenesis from [14C] acetate or [3H] H2O was stimulated by the addition of T3. In contrast, the utilization of exogenous [14C] palmitate for the synthesis of longer chain fatty acids was markedly reduced. This T3-induced inhibition was removed by octanoylcarnitine, an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyl-transferase I and of fatty acid oxidation. T3 also stimulated glycerolipid synthesis from acetate, neutral lipids being more influenced than phospholipids, but reduced the incorporation of palmitate in all the lipid fractions. It is suggested that T3 exerts opposing effects on the hepatic utilization of newly synthesized and exogenous fatty acids.     

Accumulation of diacylglycerol induced in platelets by exogenous fatty acids

Free fatty acids added in ethanol to human platelets prelabelled with [${}^{14}\text{C}$]arachidonate induce an accumulation of radioactive diacylglycerol. Unsaturated fatty acids are ten times more potent than palmitate. Ethanol alone does not alter the distribution of radioactivity. Increasing the concentration of arachidonate leads to increased diacylglycerol formation. The fatty acid effect is independent of thrombin, which itself causes a relatively small change in diacylglycerol levels. Neither the labelled triacylglycerol nor the labelled free fatty acid appears to be the source of the diacylglycerol formed which may arise from the activation of phosphatidylinositol phosphodiesterase.     

Insulin-like stimulation of glucose transport in isolated adipocytes by fatty acids

Glucose transport rate as assessed with the 3-0-Methylglucose method was significantly increased in adipocytes preincubated with aliphatic carboxylic acids. The magnitude of stimulation apparently depended on the chain length of the carboxylic acid, and was highest with palmitic acid (130%). The stimulation was additive to the effect of insulin, and reflected a decrease of km rather than an increase in vmax of the transport rate. The results suggest that fatty acids may modulate the activity of the glucose transporter, providing an insulin-dependent supply of adipose tissue with glycerol-phosphate during lipolysis for reesterification of excess fatty acids. Further, it is suggested that fatty acids mediate the stimulatory effect of catecholamines on glucose transport as observed in isolated fat cells.     

Esterification of fatty acids at room temperature by chloroform-methanolic HCl-cupric acetate

A new procedure for the preparation of methyl esters from free fatty acids under mild conditions was investigated. Free fatty acids are dissolved in a mixture of chloroform-methanolic HCl-cupric acetate and kept at room temperature for 30 min for complete esterification. The method is suitable for esterification of long-chain acids, such as 18:0, and for very long chain acids, such as 24:0. Fatty acids from brain glycerophosphatides, which included a high concentration of polyenes such as 20:4 (n - 6), 22:4 (n - 6), and 22:6 (n - 3), were also esterified by the same procedure, and neither artifact formation nor loss of unsaturated acids was observed.     

Elongation of exogenous fatty acids by the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio harveyi.

Bioluminescent bacteria require myristic acid (C14:0) to produce the myristaldehyde substrate of the light-emitting luciferase reaction. Since both endogenous and exogenous C14:0 can be used for this purpose, the metabolism of exogenous fatty acids by luminescent bacteria has been investigated. Both Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio fischeri incorporated label from [1-14C]myristic acid (C14:0) into phospholipid acyl chains as well as into CO2. In contrast, Photobacterium phosphoreum did not exhibit phospholipid acylation or beta-oxidation using exogenous fatty acids. Unlike Escherichia coli, the two Vibrio species can directly elongate fatty acids such as octanoic (C8:0), lauric (C12:0), and myristic acid, as demonstrated by radio-gas liquid chromatography. The induction of bioluminescence in late exponential growth had little effect on the ability of V. harveyi to elongate fatty acids, but it did increase the amount of C14:0 relative to C16:0 labeled from [14C]C8:0. This was not observed in a dark mutant of V. harveyi that is incapable of supplying endogenous C14:0 for luminescence. Cerulenin preferentially decreased the labeling of C16:0 and of unsaturated fatty acids from all 14C-labeled fatty acid precursors as well as from [14C]acetate, suggesting that common mechanisms may be involved in elongation of fatty acids from endogenous and exogenous sources. Fatty acylation of the luminescence-related synthetase and reductase enzymes responsible for aldehyde synthesis exhibited a chain-length preference for C14:0, which also was indicated by reverse-phase thin-layer chromatography of the acyl groups attached to these enzymes. The ability of V. harveyi to activate and elongate exogenous fatty acids may be related to an adaptive requirement to metabolize intracellular C14:0 generated by the luciferase reaction during luminescence development.     

Metabolism of exogenous long-chain fatty acids by spinach leaves

When applied in liquid paraffin to the upper surface of expanding spinach leaves, [1-14C]palmitic acid was efficiently and exclusively incorporated into the sn-1 position of cellular glycerolipids, principally phosphatidylcholine and triacylglycerol. A slow transfer of fatty acids from phosphatidylcholine to chloroplast glycolipids subsequently occurred with the positional specificity of the label remaining intact. Labeled palmitate at the sn-1 position of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol was desaturated to hexadecatrienoate so that 1-[14C]hexadecatrienoyl-2-linolenoyl-3-galactosoylglycerol became the major labeled species of the lipid between 8 and 24 h. There was no evidence of deacylation/reacylation reactions modifying the acyl compositions of spinach leaf glycerolipids for at least 48 h after labeling with [1-14C]palmitic acid; even the partially prokaryotic glycerolipids remained firmly labeled at the sn-1 position. Exogenous [1-14C]stearic acid was also incorporated into the sn-1 position of MGD, presumably by the same mechanism, and was there desaturated to [14C]linolenate. Exogenous [1-14C]oleic acid was initially incorporated equally into both sn-1 and sn-2 positions of phosphatidylcholine, and was desaturated to linoleate at both positions before the label was rapidly transferred to monogalactosyldiacylglycerol. There, desaturation of linoleate to linolenate took place. Galactolipids remained equally labeled at both positions throughout the 6 days of the experiment, but label was concentrated in the 1-saturated-2-[14C]linolenoyl molecular species of phosphatidylcholine as those species with two [14C]linoleoyl residues were drawn off for monogalactolipid synthesis. Glycerolipids synthesised from exogenous [1-14C]acetate by spinach leaves were labeled equally at both the sn-1 and the sn-2 positions. These results are interpreted as providing strong support for the two-pathway scheme of glycerolipid synthesis in plants.     

Inhibition of in vitro cholesterol synthesis by fatty acids.

Inhibitory effect of 44 species of fatty acids on cholesterol synthesis has been examined with a rat liver enzyme system. In the case of saturated fatty acids, the inhibitory activity increased with chain length to a maximum at 11 to 14 carbons, after which activity decreased rapidly. The inhibition increased with the degree of unsaturation of fatty acids. Introduction of a hydroxy group at the alpha-position of fatty acids abolished the inhibition, while the inhibition was enhanced by the presence of a hydroxy group located in an intermediate position of the chain. Branched chain fatty acids having a methyl group at the terminal showed much higher activity than the corresponding saturated straight chain fatty acids with the same number of carbons. With respect to the mechanism for inhibition, tridecanoate was found to inhibit acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase specifically without affecting the other reaction steps in the cholesterol synthetic pathway. The highly unsaturated fatty acids, arachidonate and linoleate, were specific inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA synthase. On the other hand, ricinoleate (hydroxy acid) and phytanate (branched-chain acid) diminished the conversion of mevalonate to sterols by inhibiting a step or steps between squalene and lanosterol.     

Phosphorylation of endogenous and exogenous peptides by rat heart sarcolemma

Rat heart plasma membranes contain a calcium-dependent protein kinase which phosphorylates endogenous protein substrates as well as added histones. The major endogenous protein phosphorylated is of 17 kDa on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteins of 85 kDa and 60 kDa were also phosphorylated. Treatment of a rat heart homogenate with the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate increased the recovery of kinase activity in the sarcolemmal membranes by up to 10-fold. The activity in such membranes was no longer calcium dependent. Although several histones were effective substrates for the enzyme, myosin light chain and phosvitin were not phosphorylated. These membranes contain a very active ATP hydrolysing activity which necessitated very brief incubation times to avoid loss of substrate. The membranes also contain cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase activity which is not active unless cyclic AMP is added to the incubations. The calcium dependent endogenous kinase, which is not inhibited by the heat stable inhibitor protein of cyclic AMP-dependent kinase, or by trifluoperazine, has several properties in common with protein kinase C. Preincubation of the sarcolemmal membranes with a high concentration of insulin caused inhibition of the phosphorylation of the endogenous 17 kDa and 85 kDa bands. There was no effect on the phosphorylation of the 60 kDa peptide. This effect of insulin was specific for the hormone and required preincubation of the hormone with the membranes for 20 min.     

Reversible inactivation by noradrenaline of long-chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase in rat adipocytes.

Incubation of rat adipocytes with the same range of noradrenaline concentrations that stimulate lipolysis caused a rapid and stable decrease in the activity of fatty acyl-CoA synthetase. Corticotropin, glucagon and dibutyryl cyclic AMP also decreased the activity of the enzyme. The effect of noradrenaline was apparent over a wide range of concentrations for the three substrates of the enzyme. A novel fluorescence assay of fatty acyl-CoA synthetase using (1,N6-etheno)-CoA is described. The effect of noradrenaline was not abolished by inclusion of albumin in homogenization buffers, persisted through subcellular fractionation and isolation of microsomes (microsomal fractions) and even survived treatment of microsomes with Triton X-100. The effect of noradrenaline was rapidly reversed within cells by the subsequent addition of insulin or propranolol. The inclusion of fluoride in homogenization buffers did not alter the observed effect of noradrenaline. Additions of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase to adipocyte microsomes caused considerable phosphorylation of microsomal protein by [gamma-32P]ATP, but did not affect the activity of fatty acyl-CoA synthetase.     

Lipid compositional manipulation in Acholeplasma laidlawii B. Effect of exogenous fatty acids on fatty acid composition and cell growth when endogenous fatty acid production is inhibited

A variety of potential inhibitors of de novo fatty acid biosynthesis have been tested for activity in Acholeplasma laidlawii B. Two compounds, avidin and N,N-dimethyl-4-oxo-2trans-dodecenamide (CM-55), an antimicrobial fatty amide, strongly inhibit de novo biosynthesis without nonspecific toxic effects at moderate dosages. Avidin is the more potent inhibitor, abolishing de novo fatty acid synthesis and greatly reducing the chain elongation of exogenous fatty acids at level of 25 U/l. CM-55 gives complete inhibition of de novo biosynthesis only at low temperatures and inhibits exogenous fatty acid elongation to a variable extent. However, CM-55 is still a more potent antilipogenic agent in this organism than is the fungal antibiotic cerulenin. Cells cultured with avidin grow only when one or more exogenous medium- or long-chain fatty acids are added to the growth medium. The extent of cell growth under these conditions depends primarily on the physical properties of the exogenous fatty acid(s). In general, fatty acids giving diacylglycerolipids of very high or very low fluidity are unsuitable growth substrates, while those whose diacylglycerol derivatives are of intermediate fluidity support fair to good cell growth.     

Regulation of leptin secretion from white adipocytes by free fatty acids

Norepinephrine stimulates lipolysis and concurrently inhibits insulin-stimulated leptin secretion from white adipocytes. To assess whether there is a cause-effect relationship between these two metabolic events, the effects of fatty acids were investigated in isolated rat adipocytes incubated in buffer containing low (0.1%) and high (4%) albumin concentrations. Palmitic acid (1 mM) mimicked the inhibitory effects of norepinephrine (1 microM) on insulin (10 nM)-stimulated leptin secretion, but only at low albumin concentrations. Studies investigating the effects of the chain length of saturated fatty acids [from butyric (C4) to stearic (C18) acids] revealed that only fatty acids with a chain length superior or equal to eight carbons effectively inhibited insulin-stimulated leptin secretion. Long-chain mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids constitutively present in adipocyte triglyceride stores (oleic, linoleic, gamma-linolenic, palmitoleic, eicosapentanoic, and docosahexanoic acids) also completely suppressed leptin secretion. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids inhibited insulin-stimulated leptin secretion with the same potency and without any significant effect on basal secretion. On the other hand, inhibitors of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (palmoxirate, 2-bromopalmitate, 2-bromocaproate) attenuated the stimulatory effects of insulin on leptin release without reversing the effects of fatty acids or norepinephrine, suggesting that fatty acids do not need to be oxidized by the mitochondria to inhibit leptin release. These results demonstrate that long-chain fatty acids mimic the effects of norepinephrine on leptin secretion and suggest that they may play a regulatory role as messengers between stimulation of lipolysis by norepinephrine and inhibition of leptin secretion.     

Trafficking of exogenous fatty acids within Caco-2 cells.

Dietary fatty acids (FAs) crossing the apical plasma membrane of small intestinal enterocytes are targeted to different metabolic pathways than serum FAs crossing the basolateral membrane. This apparent compartmentalization of FA metabolism in enterocytes was further investigated using a model human enterocyte-like intestinal cell line. [3H]Oleic acid bound to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was added to the apical or basolateral surfaces of confluent monolayers of Caco-2 cells growing on uncoated polycarbonate filters. In other experiments, [3H]oleic acid incorporated into micelles with taurocholate (+/- 2-monoacylglycerol) was added apically. Caco-2 cells absorbed oleic acid bound to BSA from both the apical and basolateral surfaces at the same rate. Oleic acid in micellar solution was absorbed more efficiently than oleic acid bound to BSA. Regardless of its site or mode of presentation, the majority of the incorporated oleic acid was found in triglycerides. Only a small fraction was subjected to beta-oxidation or esterification into phospholipids. Most of the incorporated oleic acid was still retained intracellularly at 24 h. The polarity of triglyceride secretion was influenced by the experimental conditions. Triglyceride secretion was not significantly polarized when oleic acid-BSA was presented apically. However, the ratio of basolateral to apical secretion at 24 h was 9:1 for oleic acid-BSA presented basolaterally. For oleic acid in taurocholate micelles there was a trend toward polarity of secretion to the apical media (apical to basolateral ratio = 2:1). The inclusion of 2-monoacylglycerol in oleic acid-taurocholate micelles did not augment triglyceride synthesis or secretion. These differences indicate that compartmentation of FA metabolism in Caco-2 cells is influenced by the site of FA presentation. Northern and Western blot hybridization studies indicated that the liver fatty acid-binding protein but not the intestinal fatty acid-binding protein gene is expressed in these cells. The absence of this latter 15 kDa protein indicates that it is not required by Caco-2 cells for the synthesis of triglycerides or for the polarized export of triglyceride. These studies indicate that the Caco-2 cell line will be a useful model system for studying the polarization of FA trafficking/metabolism in enterocytes and defining the role of intracellular fatty acid binding proteins in these processes.