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Background:Bariatric surgery remains the most effective treatment for reducing adiposity and eliminating type 2 diabetes; however, the mechanism(s) responsible have remained elusive. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) encompass a family of nuclear hormone receptors that upon activation exert control of lipid metabolism, glucose regulation and inflammation. Their role in adipose tissue following bariatric surgery remains undefined.Materials and Methods:Subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies and serum were obtained and evaluated from time of surgery and on postoperative day 7 in patients randomized to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (n=13) or matched caloric restriction (n=14), as well as patients undergoing vertical sleeve gastrectomy (n=33). Fat samples were evaluated for changes in gene expression, protein levels, β-oxidation, lipolysis and cysteine oxidation.Results:Within 7 days, bariatric surgery acutely drives a change in the activity and expression of PPARγ and PPARδ in subcutaneous adipose tissue thereby attenuating lipid storage, increasing lipolysis and potentiating lipid oxidation. This unique metabolic alteration leads to changes in downstream PPARγ/δ targets including decreased expression of fatty acid binding protein (FABP) 4 and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) with increased expression of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT1) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). Increased expression of UCP2 not only facilitated fatty acid oxidation (increased 15-fold following surgery) but also regulated the subcutaneous adipose tissue redoxome by attenuating protein cysteine oxidation and reducing oxidative stress. The expression of UCP1, a mitochondrial protein responsible for the regulation of fatty acid oxidation and thermogenesis in beige and brown fat, was unaltered following surgery.Conclusions:These results suggest that bariatric surgery initiates a novel metabolic shift in subcutaneous adipose tissue to oxidize fatty acids independently from the beiging process through regulation of PPAR isoforms. Further studies are required to understand the contribution of this shift in expression of PPAR isoforms to weight loss following bariatric surgery.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

▪ Abstract  Intracellular lipid-binding proteins are a family of low-molecular-weight single-chain polypeptides that form 1:1 complexes with fatty acids, retinoids, or other hydrophobic ligands. These proteins are products of a large multigene family of unlinked loci distributed throughout the genome. Each lipid-binding protein exhibits a distinctive pattern of tissue distribution. Transcriptional control, regulated by a combination of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors and CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins, allows for a variety of both cell and tissue-specific expression patterns. In some cells, fatty acids increase the expression of the lipid-binding protein genes. Fatty acids, or their metabolites, are activators of the peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor family of transcription factors. Therefore, as the concentration of lipid in the diet increases, the expression of lipid-binding proteins coordinately increases. As revealed by X-ray crystallography, the lipid-binding proteins fold into β-barrels, forming a large internal water-filled cavity. Fatty acid ligands are bound within the cavity, occupying only about one-third of the accessible volume. The bound fatty acid is stabilized via a combination of enthalpic and entropic forces that govern ligand affinity and selectivity. Cytoplasmic lipid-binding proteins are the intracellular receptors for hydrophobic ligands, delivering them to the appropriate site for use as metabolic fuels and regulatory agents.

Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is a cytosolic neutral lipase that functions as the rate-limiting enzyme for the mobilization of free fatty acids in adipose tissue. By using the yeast two-hybrid system to examine the potential interaction of HSL with other cellular proteins, evidence is provided to demonstrate a direct interaction of HSL with adipocyte lipid-binding protein (ALBP), a member of the family of intracellular lipid-binding proteins that binds fatty acids, retinoids, and other hydrophobic ligands. The interaction was demonstrated in vitro by the binding of ALBP to HSL translated in vitro, to HSL in extracts of HSL overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, and to HSL in extracts of rat adipose tissue. Finally, the presence of ALBP was documented in immune complexes from rat adipose tissue immunoprecipitated with anti-HSL antibodies. The HSL-ALBP interaction was mapped to an N-terminal 300-aa region of HSL that is distinct from the C-terminal catalytic domain. These results suggest that HSL-derived fatty acids are bound by ALBP to facilitate intracellular trafficking of hydrophobic lipids.

To identify and characterize specific mRNAs that increase in abundance during differentiation of mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, a cDNA library was constructed from poly(A)+RNA isolated from differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Mixed probe isotope ratio selection and RNA blot analyses have identified several unique cDNA clones that represent mRNA species expressed either exclusively or at dramatically increased levels in differentiated cells. Further characterization of one such clone (pAL422) revealed that the corresponding mRNA, detectable only after differentiation, is approximately the same length (600± 150 bases) as the cDNA insert (672 bases). The complete nucleotide sequence of the cDNA insert in pAL422 revealed a single long open reading frame that encodes a 132 amino acid polypeptide (the 422 protein) of 14.6 kDa. These and other results suggest that this cDNA may represent a nearly full-length copy of the mRNA. Computer-assisted analyses showed that the 422 protein shares 69% and 64% homology with myelin P2 proteins from rabbit and bovine peripheral nerves, respectively, as well as 23% and 30% homology with fatty-acid binding proteins from rat liver and intestine, respectively. Moreover, the mRNA hybrid selected by pAL422 DNA directs the in vitro translation of an ≈ 13 kDa polypeptide, and this protein is specifically immunoprecipitated by antiserum against bovine myelin P2. These observations strongly suggest that the 422 protein is a structural, and possibly functional, analog of myelin P2.

A wide number of adipocyte genes are regulated by exogenous polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) through the actions of the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor. Such genes include the adipocyte lipid-binding protein (ALBP or aP2) which plays a central role in facilitating the trafficking of fatty acids within adipocytes. Work from a number of laboratories has suggested the key elements of the lipid signal transduction pathway include: (1) the transport of exogenous PUFAs across the plasma membrane, (2) metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids to second messengers including 15-deoxy delta 12,14 prostaglandin J2 (15dPGJ2), (3) trafficking of 15dPGJ2 and other second messengers from the smooth ER to the nucleus for association with peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma), and (4) dimerization of PPAR gamma with retinoid X receptor (RXR) permitting regulation of transcription via association with any of several nuclear co-activators or repressors. In addition to the aP2 gene being a target of activation by fatty acids, at the protein level ALBP/aP2 plays a role in trafficking of fatty acids and/or their metabolises. We report here that in a heterologous system using CV-1 cells transiently transfected with PPAR gamma 2, co-expression of ALBP/aP2 enhances the PPAR-dependent activation of gene transcription. These results suggest that ALBP/aP2 functions as a positive factor in fatty acid signalling by directly targetting and delivering fatty acids metabolites to the lipid signal transduction pathway.

Adipocytes express two lipid-binding proteins; the major one termed the adipocyte lipid-binding protein or aP2 (ALBP/aP2) and a minor one referred to as the keratinocyte lipid-binding protein (KLBP). In order to evaluate the potential physiological roles for these proteins, their biochemical and biophysical properties have been analyzed and compared. ALBP/aP2 and KLBP exhibit similar binding affinities for most long-chain fatty acids; however, ALBP/aP2 exhibits a two to three-fold increased affinity for myristic, palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids, the predominant fatty acids of adipocytes. As measured by guanidinium hydrochloride denaturation, the stability of ALBP/aP2 is nearly 3 kcal/mol greater than that of KLBP. While the pI of ALBP/aP2 was determined to be 9.0, that of KLBP is 6.5 suggesting differing net charges at physiological pH. Analysis of surface electrostatic properties of ALBP/aP2 and KLBP revealed similar charge polarity, although differences in the detailed charge distribution exist between the proteins. The distribution of hydrophobic patches was also different between the proteins,ALBP/aP2 has only scattered hydrophobic surfaces while KLBP has a large hydrophobic patch near the ligand portal into the binding cavity. In sum, these results point out that despite the striking similarity between ALBP/aP2 and KLBP in tertiary structure, significant differences in ligand binding and surface properties exist between the two proteins. Hence, while it is tempting to speculate that ALBP/aP2 and KLBP are metabolically interchangeable, careful analysis suggests that the two proteins are quite distinct and likely to play unique metabolic roles.

Role of the Fatty Acid Binding Protein mal1 in Obesity and Insulin Resistance Kazuhisa Maeda 1 , K. Teoman Uysal 1 , Liza Makowski 1 , Cem Z. Görgün 1 , Genichi Atsumi 1 , Rex A. Parker 2 , Jens Brüning 3 , Ann Vogel Hertzel 4 , David A. Bernlohr 4 and Gökhan S. Hotamisligil 1 1 Division of Biological Sciences and Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 2 Department of Metabolic Research, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Princeton, New Jersey 3 Department of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany 4 Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota Abstract The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic and inflammatory abnormalities including obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis. The fatty acid binding proteins aP2 (fatty acid binding protein [FABP]-4) and mal1 (FABP5) are closely related and both are expressed in adipocytes. Previous studies in aP2 -deficient mice have indicated a significant role for aP2 in obesity-related insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. However, the biological functions of mal1 are not known. Here, we report the generation of mice with targeted null mutations in the mal1 gene as well as transgenic mice overexpressing mal1 from the aP2 promoter/enhancer to address the role of this FABP in metabolic regulation in the presence or absence of obesity. To address the role of the second adipocyte FABP in metabolic regulation in the presence and deficiency of obesity, absence of mal1 resulted in increased systemic insulin sensitivity in two models of obesity and insulin resistance. Adipocytes isolated from mal1 -deficient mice also exhibited enhanced insulin-stimulated glucose transport capacity. In contrast, mice expressing high levels of mal1 in adipose tissue display reduced systemic insulin sensitivity. Hence, our results demonstrate that mal1 modulates adipose tissue function and contributes to systemic glucose metabolism and constitutes a potential therapeutic target in insulin resistance. Footnotes Address correspondence and reprint requests to Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: ghotamis{at}hsph.harvard.edu . Received for publication 11 July 2002 and accepted in revised form 5 November 2002. R.P. holds stock in Bristol-Myers Squibb. G.S.H. has received funding from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. FABP, fatty acid binding protein. DIABETES

The effect of diabetic status and insulin on adipocyte plasma membrane properties and fatty acid uptake was examined. Studies with inhibitors and isolated adipocyte ghost plasma membranes indicated 9Z, 11E, 13E, 15Z-octatetraenoic acid (cis-parinaric acid) uptake was protein mediated. Cis-parinaric acid uptake was inhibited by trypsin treatment or incubation with phloretin, and competed with stearic acid. The initial rate, but not maximal uptake, of cis-parinaric acid uptake was enhanced two-fold in adipocytes from diabetic rats. Concomitantly, the structure and lipid composition of adipocyte ghost membranes was dramatically altered. However, the increased initial rate of cis-parinaric acid uptake in the diabetic adipocytes was not explained by membrane alterations or by a two-fold decrease in cytosolic adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (ALBP), unless ALBP stimulated fatty acid efflux. Thus, diabetic status dramatically altered adipocyte fatty acid uptake, plasma membrane structure, lipid composition, and cytosolic fatty acid binding protein.

Once considered a tissue culture-specific phenomenon, cellular senescence has now been linked to various biological processes with both beneficial and detrimental roles in humans, rodents and other species. Much of our understanding of senescent cell biology still originates from tissue culture studies, where each cell in the culture is driven to an irreversible cell cycle arrest. By contrast, in tissues, these cells are relatively rare and difficult to characterize, and it is now established that fully differentiated, postmitotic cells can also acquire a senescence phenotype. The SenNet Biomarkers Working Group was formed to provide recommendations for the use of cellular senescence markers to identify and characterize senescent cells in tissues. Here, we provide recommendations for detecting senescent cells in different tissues based on a comprehensive analysis of existing literature reporting senescence markers in 14 tissues in mice and humans. We discuss some of the recent advances in detecting and characterizing cellular senescence, including molecular senescence signatures and morphological features, and the use of circulating markers. We aim for this work to be a valuable resource for both seasoned investigators in senescence-related studies and newcomers to the field.Senescent cells have complex and important roles in cancer and ageing, but they are quite rare and difficult to characterize in tissues in vivo. In this Expert Recommendation, the SenNet Biomarkers Working Group discusses recent advances in detecting and characterizing cellular senescence and provides recommendations for senescence markers in 14 human and mouse tissues.