Lysosomes are crucial cellular organelles for human health that function in digestion and recycling of extracellular and intracellular macromolecules. We describe a signaling role for lysosomes that affects aging. In the worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, the lysosomal acid lipase LIPL-4 triggered nuclear translocalization of a lysosomal lipid chaperone LBP-8, consequently promoting longevity by activating the nuclear hormone receptors NHR-49 and NHR-80. We used high-throughput metabolomic analysis to identify several lipids whose abundance was increased in worms constitutively over-expressing LIPL-4. Among them, oleoylethanolamide directly bound to LBP-8 and NHR-80 proteins, activated transcription of target genes of NHR-49 and NHR-80, and promoted longevity in C. elegans. These findings reveal a lysosome-to-nucleus signaling pathway that promotes longevity and suggest a function of lysosomes as signaling organelles in metazoans.

Metabolic fingerprinting provides valuable information on the physiopathological states of cells and tissues. Traditional imaging mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance imaging are unable to probe the spatial-temporal dynamics of metabolites at the subcellular level due to either lack of spatial resolution or inability to perform live cell imaging. Here we report a complementary metabolic imaging technique that is based on hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering (hsSRS). We demonstrated the use of hsSRS imaging in quantifying two major neutral lipids: cholesteryl ester and triacylglycerol in cells and tissues. Our imaging results revealed previously unknown changes of lipid composition associated with obesity and steatohepatitis. We further used stable-isotope labeling to trace the metabolic dynamics of fatty acids in live cells and live Caenorhabditis elegans with hsSRS imaging. We found that unsaturated fatty acid has preferential uptake into lipid storage while saturated fatty acid exhibits toxicity in hepatic cells. Simultaneous metabolic fingerprinting of deuterium-labeled saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in living C. elegans revealed that there is a lack of interaction between the two, unlike previously hypothesized. Our findings provide new approaches for metabolic tracing of neutral lipids and their precursors in living cells and organisms, and could potentially serve as a general approach for metabolic fingerprinting of other metabolites.

The binding of Hedgehog to its receptor Patched causes de-repression of Smoothened resulting in the activation of the Hedgehog pathway. Here, we show that Smo activation is dependent on the levels of phospholipid, Phosphatidyl Inositol-4 Phosphate (PI4P). Loss of STT4 kinase required for the generation of PI4P exhibits hh-loss of function phenotypes while loss of Sac1 phosphatase required for the degradation of PI4P results in hh-gain of function phenotypes in multiple setting during Drosophila development. Furthermore, loss of Ptc function which results in the activation of Hedgehog pathway also causes an increase in PI4P levels. Sac1 functions downstream of STT4 and Ptc in the regulation of Smo membrane localization and Hh pathway activation. Taken together, our results suggest a model in which Ptc directly or indirectly functions to suppress the accumulation of PI4P. Binding of Hh to Ptc derepresses the levels of PI4P, which in turn promotes Smo activation.

Highlights d Lysosomal lipid messenger signaling actively regulates mitochondrial ß-oxidation d Mitochondrial ß-oxidation modulates electron transport chain complex II activity d Lysosomal and mitochondrial pro-longevity signaling converge on JUN-1 d Organelle coordination improves metabolic balance, redox homeostasis, and longevity

The recently developed Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) microscopy and Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) microscopy have provided new methods to visualize the localization and regulation of biological molecules without the use of invasive and potentially perturbative labels. They allow rapid imaging of specific molecules with high resolution and sensitivity. These tools have been effectively applied to the study of lipid metabolism using Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model, unraveling new lipid storage phenotypes and their regulatory mechanisms. Here we review the underlying principle of CARS and SRS microscopy, as well as their recent applications in lipid biology research in C. elegans.