Dynamics of lipid accumulation by the fat body of Rhodnius prolixus: The involvement of lipophorin binding sites

Pontes, Emerson Guedes; Leite, Paula; Majerowicz, David; Atella, Geórgia C.; Gondim, Kátia C.

doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2008.02.003

Cited by 49 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Fatty acids are rapidly taken up by the fat body and readily incorporated into triglyceride and, in smaller amounts, into other glycerides and phospholipids (17, 111). The amount of fatty acid or acetate incorporated by the fat body is dependent on the developmental stage and feeding status of the insect (17, 80, 102, 143). …”

Section: Accumulation Of Energy Reserves: Storage Of Nutrients As Glymentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect Fat Body: Energy, Metabolism, and Regulation

Arrese¹,

Soulages²

2010

Annu. Rev. Entomol.

1,921

1,547

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The fat body plays major roles in the life of insects. It is a dynamic tissue involved in multiple metabolic functions. One of these functions is to store and release energy in response to the energy demands of the insect. Insects store energy reserves in the form of glycogen and triglycerides in the adipocytes, the main fat body cell. Insect adipocytes can store a great amount of lipid reserves as cytoplasmic lipid droplets. Lipid metabolism is essential for growth and reproduction and provides energy needed during extended nonfeeding periods. This review focuses on energy storage and release and summarizes current understanding of the mechanisms underlying these processes in insects. INSECT FAT BODY: AN OVERVIEWThe insect fat body plays an essential role in energy storage and utilization. It is the central storage depot for excess nutrients. In addition, it is an organ of great biosynthetic and metabolic activity (77). Fat body cells not only control the synthesis and utilization of energy reserves-fat and glycogen-but also synthesize most of the hemolymph proteins and circulating metabolites. Large amounts of relevant proteins, such as storage proteins used as an amino acid reservoir for morphogenesis, lipophorins responsible for the lipid transport in circulation, or vitellogenins for egg maturation, are secreted by the fat body (74). Most of the insect's intermediary metabolism takes place in this organ, including lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, protein synthesis, and amino acid and nitrogen metabolism. Some metabolic processes are stage specific such as the synthesis and secretion of storage proteins into the hemolymph that occur in the feeding larva or the synthesis of vitellogenin in adult insects.To perform multiple metabolic functions to fulfill the changing physiological needs of the insect during development, the fat body must be able to integrate signals from other organs. Many of these functions are hormonally regulated, and thus the fat body is the target organ of several hormones (47,107). At the same time, the fat body responds to the metabolic requirements of the organ itself. Therefore, several metabolic processes in the fat body must be tightly coupled to a number of metabolic pathways.Physiological systems to sense nutrient reserves are expected in all organisms, and in insects nutrient sensing itself appears to be the domain of the fat body (87). Studies of Drosophila melanogaster and, more recently, mosquitoes have shown that the fat body specifically expresses aminoacid transporters that function as nutrient sensors (14,61). The level of nutrient reserves accumulated in the fat body modulates several important aspects of the insect's life such as the rate of insect growth, the timing of metamorphosis, and egg development (87). The fat body coordinates insect growth with metamorphosis or reproduction by storing or releasing components central to these events. For example, the synthesis of vitellogenin in the fat body of Aedes aegypti female mosquitoes is NIH Public Access

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Section: Accumulation Of Energy Reserves: Storage Of Nutrients As Glymentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect Fat Body: Energy, Metabolism, and Regulation

Arrese¹,

Soulages²

2010

Annu. Rev. Entomol.

1,921

1,547

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It acts as a lipid shuttle system, loading DAG in the gut in the presence of LTP (lipid transport protein), which acts catalytically to promote lipid export from the gut to lipophorin [55]. The DAG is then delivered to the fat body from the mid gut where it is converted to TAG for storage [56]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fat body, fat pad and adipose tissues in invertebrates and vertebrates: the nexus

2014

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The fat body in invertebrates was shown to participate in energy storage and homeostasis, apart from its other roles in immune mediation and protein synthesis to mention a few. Thus, sharing similar characteristics with the liver and adipose tissues in vertebrates. However, vertebrate adipose tissue or fat has been incriminated in the pathophysiology of metabolic disorders due to its role in production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This has not been reported in the insect fat body. The link between the fat body and adipose tissue was examined in this review with the aim of determining the principal factors responsible for resistance to inflammation in the insect fat body. This could be the missing link in the prevention of metabolic disorders in vertebrates, occasioned by obesity.

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“…After unloading, Lp is recycled for subsequent lipid mobilization (Rodenburg and Van der Horst, 2005; Ryan and van der Horst, 2000; Van der Horst and Rodenburg, 2010; Van der Horst et al, 2002; Van Hoof et al, 2005). Lipophorin systems have been thoroughly characterized in blood feeding insects including the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Van Heusden, 1997; Sun et al 2000; Cheon et al 2001; Cheon et al 2006), the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae (Atella et al 2006; Marinotti et al 2006) and in the kissing bug, Rhodnius prolixus (Machado et al 1996; Grillo et al 2003; Pontes et al 2002; Pontes et al 2008), but little is known about lipophorin in tsetse. Tsetse lipophorin (GmmLp) was previously isolated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lipophorin acts as a shuttle of lipids to the milk gland during tsetse fly pregnancy

Benoit

Yang

Krause

et al. 2011

Journal of Insect Physiology

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During pregnancy in the viviparous tsetse fly, lipid mobilization is essential for the production of milk to feed the developing intrauterine larva. Lipophorin (Lp) functions as the major lipid transport protein in insects and closely-related arthropods. In this study, we assessed the role of Lp and the lipophorin receptor (LpR) in the lipid mobilization process during tsetse reproduction. We identified single gene sequences for GmmLp and GmmLpR from the genome of Glossina morsitans morsitans, and measured spatial and temporal expression of gmmlp and gmmlpr during the female reproductive cycle. Our results show that expression of gmmlp is specific to the adult fat body and larvae. In the adult female, gmmlp expression is constitutive. However transcript levels increase in the larva as it matures within the mother’s uterus, reaching peak expression just prior to parturition. GmmLp was detected in the hemolymph of pregnant females and larvae, but not in the uterine fluid or larval gut contents ruling out the possibility of direct transfer of GmmLp from mother to offspring. Transcripts for gmmlpr were detected in the head, ovaries, midgut, milk gland/fat body, ovaries and developing larva. Levels of gmmlpr remain stable throughout the first and second gonotrophic cycles with a slight dip observed during the first gonotrophic cycle. GmmLpR was detected in multiple tissues, including the midgut, fat body, milk gland, spermatheca and head. Knockdown of gmmlp by RNA interference resulted in reduced hemolymph lipid levels, delayed oocyte development and extended larval gestation. Similar suppresion of gmmlpr did not significantly reduce hemolymph lipid levels or oogenesis duration, but did extend the duration of larval development. Thus, GmmLp and GmmLpR function as the primary shuttle for lipids originating from the midgut and fat body to the ovaries and milk gland to supply resources for developing oocytes and larval nourishment, respectively. Once in the milk gland however, lipids are apparently transferred into the developing larva not by lipophorin but by another carrier lipoprotein.

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Dynamics of lipid accumulation by the fat body of Rhodnius prolixus: The involvement of lipophorin binding sites

Cited by 49 publications

References 39 publications

Insect Fat Body: Energy, Metabolism, and Regulation

Insect Fat Body: Energy, Metabolism, and Regulation

Fat body, fat pad and adipose tissues in invertebrates and vertebrates: the nexus

Lipophorin acts as a shuttle of lipids to the milk gland during tsetse fly pregnancy

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