Lipid droplets

Perilipin 2 (PLIN2) is a lipid droplet (LD)-coating protein playing important roles in lipid homeostasis and suppression of lipotoxicity in different tissues and cell types. Recently, a role for PLIN2 in supporting mitochondrial function has emerged. PLIN2 dysregulation is involved in many metabolic disorders and age-related diseases. However, the exact consequences of PLIN2 dysregulation are not yet completely understood. In this study, we knocked down (KD) PLIN2 in primary human dermal fibroblasts (hDFs) from young (mean age 29 years) and old (mean age 71 years) healthy donors...

The high-protein diet (HPD) has emerged as a potent dietary approach to curb obesity. Peroxisome, a highly malleable organelle, adapts to nutritional changes to maintain homeostasis by remodeling its structure, composition, and quantity. However, the impact of HPD on peroxisomes and the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system, we discovered that HPD specifically increases peroxisome levels within the adipose tissues. This HPD-induced peroxisome elevation is attributed to cysteine and methionine by triggering the expression of CG33474, a fly homolog of mammalian PEX11G...

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Fenglong" (ST40) and "Zusanli" (ST36) of different intensities and durations on rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) based on the protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4)-C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) signaling pathway, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of NAFLD. METHODS: SD rats were randomly divided into normal diet group, high-fat model group, sham EA group, strong stimulation EA (SEA) group, and weak stimulation EA (WEA) group, with 15 rats in each group...

The natural product pneumocandin B0 is the precursor of the antifungal drug caspofungin. To explore the relationship between pneumocandin B0 and oil. We found that the addition of 1 g/L of oil to the fermentation medium is more conducive to the production of pneumocandin B0 . The metabolic reaction mechanism was explored using different fatty acids and the results showed that stearic acid and acetic acid increased the total production of pneumocandin B0 by 22.98% and 9.08%, respectively, as well as increasing the content of intracellular lipid droplets...

UNLABELLED: Numerous studies have supported that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis. Ling-Gui-Zhu-Gan decoction (LG) has been clinically used to treat NAFLD, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. This study investigated the therapeutic effect and mechanisms of LG in mice with NAFLD induced by a high-fat diet (HD). An HD-induced NAFLD mice model was established to evaluate the efficacy of LG followed by biochemical and histopathological analysis...

Lipid droplets are dynamic multifunctional organelles composed of a neutral lipid core and a phospholipid monolayer membrane modified by a specific set of proteins. PAT family proteins are the most characteristic lipid droplet proteins, playing an important role in regulating lipid droplet structure, function, and metabolism. The biogenesis of lipid droplets involves neutral lipid synthesis and the nucleation, budding, and growth of the lipid droplets. Lipid droplets not only serve as the energy metabolism reserve of cells but also participate in intracellular signal transduction and the development of inflammation and tumor...

Early diagnostics and therapies for diseases such as cancer are limited by the fact that the inducing factors for the development of cytopathies are not clear. The stable polarity of lipid droplets is a potential biomarker for tumor cells; however, the complex intracellular biological environment poses great difficulties for specific detection of the polarity. Therefore, to meet this pressing challenge, we designed a highly selective fluorescent probe, DCI-Cou-polar, which used the ICT mechanism to differentiate normal cells and tumor cells in tissue sections by detecting changes in the polarities of intracellular lipid droplets...

BACKGROUND: Steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head (SANFH) is a typical refractory disease that often progresses irreversibly and has a high disability rate. Numerous studies have confirmed that abnormal osteogenic-adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) is one of the major factors of SANFH. However, the mechanism remains to be elucidated. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the function of the IFT80/Hedgehog pathway in the osteogenic-adipogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs...

BACKGROUND: Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) synthesizes triacylglycerol (TG) from diacylglycerol; therefore, DGAT2 is considered as a therapeutic target for steatosis. However, the consequence of inhibiting DGAT2 is not fully investigated due to side effects including lethality and lipotoxicity. In this article, we observed the role of DGAT2 in hepatocarcinoma. METHODS: The role of DGAT2 is analyzed via loss-of-function assay. DGAT2 knockdown (KD) and inhibitor treatment on HepG2 cell line was analyzed...

BACKGROUND: Cancer radiation treatments have seen substantial advancements, yet the biomolecular mechanisms underlying cancer cell radioresistance continue to elude full understanding. The effectiveness of radiation on cancer is hindered by various factors, such as oxygen concentrations within tumors, cells' ability to repair DNA damage and metabolic changes. Moreover, the initial and radiation-induced cell cycle profiles can significantly influence radiotherapy responses as radiation sensitivity fluctuates across different cell cycle stages...

Triglyceride (TAG) deposition in the liver is associated with metabolic disorders. In lower vertebrate, the propensity to accumulate hepatic TAG varies widely among fish species. Diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGAT1 and DGAT2) are major enzymes for TAG synthesis. Here we show that large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) has significantly higher hepatic TAG level than that in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fed with same diet. Hepatic expression of DGATs genes in croaker is markedly higher compared with trout under physiological condition...

Cyperus rotundus rhizomes have been used in longevity remedies in Thailand for nourishing good health, which led us to investigate the effect on energy homeostasis, especially glucose utilization in myotubes and adipocytes, and on inhibition of lipogenesis in adipocytes. The results showed that an ethyl acetate extract of C. rotundus rhizomes (ECR) containing 1.61%w/w piceatannol, with a half-maximal concentration of 17.76 ± 0.03 μg/mL in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, caused upregulation and cell-membrane translocation of glucose transporters GLUT4 and 1 in L6 myotubes but downregulation and cytoplasmic localization of GLUT4 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and was related to the p-Akt/Akt ratio in both cells, especially at 100 μg/mL...

BACKGROUND: The mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membrane membranes (MAM), is the central hub for endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria functional communicate. It plays a crucial role in hepatic lipid homeostasis. However, even though MAM has been acknowledged to be enriched in enzymes that contribute to lipid biosynthesis, no study has yet investigated the exact role of MAM on hepatic neutral lipid synthesis. OBJECTIVES: To address these gaps, this study investigated the systemic control mechanisms for MAM in neutral lipids synthesis by recruiting Seipin, focusing on the role of the Ip3r-Grp75-Vdac complex and their relevant Ca2+ signaling in this process...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Orostachys malacophylla (Pall.) Fisch (O. malacophylla) is a succulent herbaceous plant that is the Orostachys genus of Crassulaceae family. O. malacophylla has been widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-febrile, antidote, anti-Toxoplasma gondii properties. However, the biological function of alleviating intestinal inflammation and key bioactive compounds were still unknown. AIM OF THE STUDY: We used a Drosophila model to study the protective effects and bioactive compounds of O...

OBJECTIVE: Phase-shift contrast agents consist of a liquid perfluorocarbon core that can be vaporized by ultrasound to generate echogenic contrast with excellent spatiotemporal control. The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo behavior of condensed lipid-shelled nanodroplets (NDs) using different analytical procedures. METHODS: Perfluorobutane NDs were prepared by condensation of precursor fluorescently labeled lipid-shelled microbubbles (MBs) and were characterized in terms of size distribution, gas core content and in vitro stability in blood, as well as for their acoustic vaporization behavior using a custom-made setup...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative condition commonly observed in the elderly, leading to consequential disability. Despite notable advancements made in clinical strategies for OA, its pathogenesis remains uncertain. The intricate association between OA and metabolic processes has yet to receive comprehensive exploration. In our investigation, we leveraged public databases and applied machine learning algorithms, including WGCNA, LASSO, RF, immune infiltration analysis, and pathway enrichment analysis, to scrutinize the role of lipid metabolism-associated genes (LAGs) in the OA...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is tightly connected to the lipid metabolism with lipid droplets (LDs) serving as assembly sites for progeny virions. A previous LD proteome analysis identified annexin A3 (ANXA3) as an important HCV host factor that is enriched at LDs in infected cells and required for HCV morphogenesis. To further characterize ANXA3 function in HCV, we performed proximity labeling using ANXA3-BioID2 as bait in HCV-infected cells. Two of the top proteins identified proximal to ANXA3 during HCV infection were the La-related protein 1 (LARP1) and the ADP ribosylation factor-like protein 8B (ARL8B), both of which have been previously described to act in HCV particle production...

Dual-state emissive (DSE) materials exhibit fluorescence in both solid and solution states and have become an emerging material in the fields of materials science and sensing in recent years. However, due to the lack of effective and universal preparation methods, DSE materials, especially those with long emission wavelengths, are still scarce. Developing an effective method for constructing such DSE molecules is urgently needed. In this study, we constructed three DSE molecules ( NRP-Boc , DCIP-Boc , and DCMP-Boc ) with far-red to near-infrared fluorescence by simply modifying three traditional aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) fluorophores with tert -butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) groups...

The Nano-formulation of citronella essential oil ( Cymbopogon nardus (L.) and their mixtures of three adjuvants (Provecta®, Top film®, and PEG600-dioleate) were studied to enhance physico-chemical properties of the Nano-formulation and improve the insecticidal effect against Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd). Characterisation of physicochemical properties of Nano-formulation was studied by calculating droplet size, polydispersity index (PDI), and Zeta-potential parameters. The results showed that the Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) mixtures of three adjuvant mixtures had more toxic activity and stability than the Nano-formulation alone...

Interleukin-33 (IL-33), an emerging cytokine within the IL-1 family, assumes a pivotal function in the control of obesity. However, the specific mechanism of its regulation of obesity formation remains unclear. In this study, we found that the expression level of IL-33 increased in visceral adipose tissue in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) compared with that in mice fed with a normal diet (ND). In vitro, we also found the expression level of IL-33 was upregulated during the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells...