"New" hepatic fat activates PPARα to maintain glucose, lipid, and cholesterol homeostasis

Manu V. Chakravarthy, Zhijun Pan, Yimin Zhu, Karen Tordjman, Jochen G. Schneider, Trey Coleman, John Turk, Clay F. Semenkovich*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

445 Scopus citations

Abstract

De novo lipogenesis is an energy-expensive process whose role in adult mammals is poorly understood. We generated mice with liver-specific inactivation of fatty-acid synthase (FAS), a key lipogenic enzyme. On a zero-fat diet, FASKOL (FAS knockout in liver) mice developed hypoglycemia and fatty liver, which were reversed with dietary fat. These phenotypes were also observed after prolonged fasting, similarly to fasted PPARα-deficiency mice. Hypoglycemia, fatty liver, and defects in expression of PPARα target genes in FASKOL mice were corrected with a PPARα agonist. On either zero-fat or chow diet, FASKOL mice had low serum and hepatic cholesterol levels with elevated SREBP-2, decreased HMG-CoA reductase expression, and decreased cholesterol biosynthesis; these were also corrected with a PPARα agonist. These results suggest that products of the FAS reaction regulate glucose, lipid, and cholesterol metabolism by serving as endogenous activators of distinct physiological pools of PPARα in adult liver.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)309-322
Number of pages14
JournalCell Metabolism
Volume1
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2005
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institutes of HealthHL58427, DK20579, P41 RR00954, DK56341
National Institute on AgingR01AG020091

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