Lipids Commons^™

Autotaxin-Lpa Signaling Contributes To Obesity-Induced Insulin Resistance In Muscle And Impairs Mitochondrial Metabolism, Kenneth D'Souza, Carine Nzirorera, Andrew M. Cowie, Geena P. Varghese, Purvi Trivedi, Thomas O. Eichmann, Dipsikha Biswas, Mohamed Touaibia, Andrew J. Morris, Vassilis Aidinis, Daniel A. Kane, Thomas Pulinilkunnil, Petra C. Kienesberger

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Autotaxin (ATX) is an adipokine that generates the bioactive lipid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). ATX-LPA signaling has been implicated in diet-induced obesity and systemic insulin resistance. However, it remains unclear whether the ATX-LPA pathway influences insulin function and energy metabolism in target tissues, particularly skeletal muscle, the major site of insulin-stimulated glucose disposal. The objective of this study was to test whether the ATX-LPA pathway impacts tissue insulin signaling and mitochondrial metabolism in skeletal muscle during obesity. Male mice with heterozygous ATX deficiency (ATX^+/−) were protected from obesity, systemic insulin resistance, and cardiomyocyte dysfunction following high-fat high-sucrose (HFHS) feeding. …

Mass Spectrometry Image Creator (Msic): Ion Mobility / Mass Spectrometry Imaging Workflow In Python, Stephen Creger, Julia Laskin, Daniela Mesa Sanchez

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful characterization technique that enables identification of compounds in complex mixtures. Acquiring mass spectra in a spatially-resolved manner (i.e. over a grid), allows the data to be used to generate images that show the spatial distribution and relative intensities of every compound in a sample. These images can be used to monitor and identify biomarkers, explore the metabolism of compounds within tissues, and much more. However, the limitations of mass spectrometry can result in ambiguous compound identifications. Another characterization tool, ion mobility spectrometry (IM) can be integrated into existing MS routines to address this problem; …

Endocannabinoid Metabolome Of Human Breast Milk, Adriana V. Gaitan Espinoza

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Human breast milk (HBM) is an extremely complex yet fascinating biofluid tailored to meet an infant’s nutritional requirements for development. Amongst the nutrients present in HBM, the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are of high importance due to the pivotal role they play in infant cognitive and visual development, and growth. In addition, the LCPUFAs are precursors to endocannabinoids (EC) which are endogenous lipid mediators. EC exert metabolic responses including appetite and food intake regulation, and they have been identified to play a role in establishing the suckling response of the newborn that is needed to nurse. Thus, we aimed …

Psychological Well-Being And Restorative Biological Processes: Hdl-C In Older English Adults, Jackie Soo, Laura D. Kubzansky, Ying Chen, Emily S. Zevon, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Rationale

Psychological well-being is associated with better cardiovascular health, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear.

Objective

This study investigates one possible mechanism by examining psychological well-being's prospective association with lipid levels, focusing on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).

Methods

Participants were 4757 healthy men and women ages ≥50 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing with clinical data from three times, three to five years apart. Psychological well-being was assessed at baseline using the Control, Autonomy, Satisfaction, and Pleasure scale; HDL-C, triglycerides, and total cholesterol were assayed from blood samples. Descriptive statistics and linear mixed models were used to examine associations …

Serum Lipidomics Of Bovine Paratuberculosis: Disruption Of Choline-Containing Glycerophospholipids And Sphingolipids, Paul L. Wood, Erdal Erol, Glen F. Hoffsis, Margaret Steinman, Jeroen Debuck

Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Objectives: Bovine paratuberculosis is a devastating infection with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis that ultimately results in death from malnutrition. While the infection is characterized by a long (2–4 years) subclinical phase with immune activation, ultimately host defense mechanisms fail and the bacteria spread from the small intestine to other organs. Since both the gastrointestinal tract and liver are essential for the biosynthesis of structural glycerophospholipids, we investigated the circulating levels of these lipids in field infections and experimentally infected cattle.

Methods: Serum lipidomics of control and M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis–infected cattle were performed utilizing high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Results: In …

Abcg5 And Abcg8: More Than A Defense Against Xenosterols, Shailendra B. Patel, Gregory A. Graf, Ryan E. Temel

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The elucidation of the molecular basis of the rare disease, sitosterolemia, has revolutionized our mechanistic understanding of how dietary sterols are excreted and how cholesterol is eliminated from the body. Two proteins, ABCG5 and ABCG8, encoded by the sitosterolemia locus, work as obligate dimers to pump sterols out of hepatocytes and enterocytes. ABCG5/ABCG8 are key in regulating whole-body sterol trafficking, by eliminating sterols via the biliary tree as well as the intestinal tract. Importantly, these transporters keep xenosterols from accumulating in the body. The sitosterolemia locus has been genetically associated with lipid levels and downstream atherosclerotic disease, as well as …

Effects Of Mitochondrial Nadp+-Dependent Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Deficiency On Fructose-Induced Obesity In Mice, Allison Michelle Montalbano, Kaleigh Elizabeth Beane

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Obesity prevalence in the United States continues to increase and is associated with health consequences such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and hyperlipidemia. Among many contributing factors to obesity, fructose may be one of the major reasons as it disrupts the antioxidant system thereby resulting in an accumulation of reactive oxidative species and leading to obese conditions. The enzyme, isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2), reduces nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate from the TCA Cycle, hence might be implicated with not only energy metabolism but also cellular redox homeostasis. Therefore, the hypothesis was that IDH2 deficiency in mice would exacerbate hepatic lipid …

Increased Liver Tumor Formation In Neutral Sphingomyelinase-2-Deficient Mice, Liansheng Zhong, Ji Na Kong, Michael B. Dinkins, Silvia Leanhart, Zhihui Zhu, Stefka D. Spassieva, Haiyan Qin, Hsuan-Pei Lin, Ahmed Elsherbini, Rebecca Wang, Xue Jiang, Mariana N. Nikolova‑Karakashian, Guanghu Wang, Erhard Bieberich

Physiology Faculty Publications

Sphingolipids are key signaling lipids in cancer. Genome-wide studies have identified neutral SMase-2 (nSMase2), an enzyme generating ceramide from SM, as a potential repressor for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, little is known about the sphingolipids regulated by nSMase2 and their roles in liver tumor development. We discovered growth of spontaneous liver tumors in 27.3% (9 of 33) of aged male nSMase2-deficient (fro/fro) mice. Lipidomics analysis showed a marked increase of SM in the tumor. Unexpectedly, tumor tissues presented with more than a 7-fold increase of C₁₆-ceramide, concurrent with upregulation of ceramide synthase 5. The fro/fro liver tumor, …

An Exome-Wide Sequencing Study Of Lipid Response To High-Fat Meal And Fenofibrate In Caucasians From The Goldn Cohort, Xin Geng, Marguerite R. Irvin, Bertha Hidalgo, Stella Aslibekyan, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Ping An, Alexis C. Frazier-Wood, Hemant K. Tiwari, Tushar Dave, Kathleen Ryan, Jose M. Ordovas, Robert J. Straka, Mary F. Feitosa, Paul N. Hopkins, Ingrid Borecki, Michael A. Province, Braxton D. Mitchell, Donna K. Arnett, Degui Zhi

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Our understanding of genetic influences on the response of lipids to specific interventions is limited. In this study, we sought to elucidate effects of rare genetic variants on lipid response to a high-fat meal challenge and fenofibrate (FFB) therapy in the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN) cohort using an exome-wide sequencing-based association study. Our results showed that the rare coding variants in ITGA7, SIPA1L2, and CEP72 are significantly associated with fasting LDL cholesterol response to FFB (P = 1.24E-07), triglyceride postprandial area under the increase (AUI) (P = 2.31E-06), and triglyceride postprandial …

Bacterial Lps At The Immune Modulating Component In Juzen-Taiho-To, Diego Montenegro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Juzen-taiho-to (JTT) is an immune-boosting herbal formulation with an ideal balance of safety and efficacy. For example, JTT is clinically used in Japan to stimulate the immunological functions of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. Although the clinical effects of JTT are recognized, the active compounds and mechanism of action are unknown. The studies conducted previously in our laboratory associated several phytosterols and plant glycolipids with the potent immunostimulatory activity of JTT: namely, β-sitosteryl β-D-glucoside (BSSG), glucocerebroside (GluCer), digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG). However, these compounds, when further purified, exhibited little or no immunostimulatory activity. This suggested that the immunostimulatory …

Dynamic Cycling Of T-Snare Acylation Regulates Platelet Exocytosis, Jinchao Zhang, Yunjie Huang, Jing Chen, Haining Zhu, Sidney W. Whiteheart

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Platelets regulate vascular integrity by secreting a host of molecules that promote hemostasis and its sequelae. Given the importance of platelet exocytosis, it is critical to understand how it is controlled. The t-SNAREs, SNAP-23 and syntaxin-11, lack classical transmembrane domains (TMDs), yet both are associated with platelet membranes and redistributed into cholesterol-dependent lipid rafts when platelets are activated. Using metabolic labeling and hydroxylamine (HA)/HCl treatment, we showed that both contain thioester-linked acyl groups. Mass spectrometry mapping further showed that syntaxin-11 was modified on cysteine 275, 279, 280, 282, 283, and 285, and SNAP-23 was modified on cysteine 79, 80, 83, …

Novel Function Of Ceramide For Regulation Of Mitochondrial Atp Release In Astrocytes, Ji-Na Kong, Zhihui Zhu, Yutaka Itokazu, Guanghu Wang, Michael B. Dinkins, Liansheng Zhong, Hsuan-Pei Lin, Ahmed Elsherbini, Silvia Leanhart, Xue Jiang, Haiyan Qin, Wenbo Zhi, Stefka D. Spassieva, Erhard Bieberich

Physiology Faculty Publications

We reported that amyloid β peptide (Aβ₄₂) activated neutral SMase 2 (nSMase2), thereby increasing the concentration of the sphingolipid ceramide in astrocytes. Here, we show that Aβ₄₂ induced mitochondrial fragmentation in wild-type astrocytes, but not in nSMase2-deficient cells or astrocytes treated with fumonisin B1 (FB1), an inhibitor of ceramide synthases. Unexpectedly, ceramide depletion was concurrent with rapid movements of mitochondria, indicating an unknown function of ceramide for mitochondria. Using immunocytochemistry and super-resolution microscopy, we detected ceramide-enriched and mitochondria-associated membranes (CEMAMs) that were codistributed with microtubules. Interaction of ceramide with tubulin was confirmed by cross-linking to N-[9-(3-pent-4-ynyl-3-H-diazirine-3-yl)-nonanoyl]-D-erythro-sphingosine …

The Role Of Ceramide In Neutrophil Elastase Induced Inflammation In The Lungs, Sophia Karandashova

Theses and Dissertations

Alterations to sphingolipid metabolism are associated with increased pulmonary inflammation, but the impact of inflammatory mediators, such as neutrophil elastase (NE), on airway sphingolipid homeostasis remains unknown. NE is a protease associated CF lung disease progression, and can be found in up to micromolar concentrations in patient airways. While sphingolipids have been investigated in the context of CF, the focus has been on loss of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) function. Here, we present a novel observation: oropharyngeal aspiration of NE increases airway ceramides in mice. Using a previously characterized mouse model of NE-induced inflammation, we demonstrate that NE …

Naturally Occurring 3rs, 7r, 11r-Phytanic Acid Suppresses In Vitro T-Cell Production Of Interferon-Gamma, Tomonori Nakanishi, Ibuki Motoba, Mayuko Anraku, Ryoji Suzuki, Yuto Yamaguchi, Laurie Erickson, Satoshi Kawahara

Hebrew Theological College Publications and Research

Background: Among the eight stereoisomers of phytanic acid (PA), the 3RS, 7R, 11R-isomer is naturally occurring and is present in foods and the human body. PA is considered to have possible health benefits in the immune system. However, it remains undetermined whether these effects are elicited by the 3RS, 7R, 11R-PA isomer, because previous studies used a commercially available PA whose isomer configuration is unknown. In this study, we synthesized a preparation of 3RS, 7R, 11R-PA, and investigated its in vitro immunomodulatory effects, especially the T-cell production of interferon (IFN)-γ, which is associated with various autoimmune diseases. This study …

The Forensic Characterization Of Bacterial And Fungal Organisms In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Julia Grzymkowski, Christopher J. Ehrhardt, Justin L. Poklis, Michelle R. Peace

Undergraduate Research Posters

There has been an increase in use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the United States because they are less expensive and believed to be more effective with less adverse effects in comparison to traditional pharmaceutics. Therefore, sales have increased in the US, despite articles and case studies demonstrating the dangers, such as injury and death, related to TCM, stemming from improper labelling, toxic contaminants, and, in some cases, the presence of pathogenic bacteria. The aim of this study was to perform a survival experiment to demonstrate the importance of proper herbal brewing technique and to conduct a molecular and …