Publications by authors named "Renate Schreiber"

Increasing energy expenditure in brown adipose (BAT) tissue by cold-induced lipolysis is discussed as a potential strategy to counteract imbalanced lipid homeostasis caused through unhealthy lifestyle and cardiometabolic disease. Yet, it is largely unclear how liberated fatty acids (FA) are metabolized. We investigated the liver and BAT lipidome of mice housed for 1 week at thermoneutrality, 23 °C and 4 °C using quantitative mass spectrometry-based lipidomics.

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Fatty acids (FAs) are crucial energy metabolites, signalling molecules, and membrane building blocks for a wide range of organisms. Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) is the first and presumingly most crucial regulator of FA release from triacylglycerols (TGs) stored within cytosolic lipid droplets. However, besides the function of releasing FAs by hydrolysing TGs into diacylglycerols (DGs), ATGL also promotes the transacylation reaction of two DG molecules into one TG and one monoacylglycerol molecule.

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Objective: In brown adipose tissue (iBAT), the balance between lipid/glucose uptake and lipolysis is tightly regulated by insulin signaling. Downstream of the insulin receptor, PDK1 and mTORC2 phosphorylate AKT, which activates glucose uptake and lysosomal mTORC1 signaling. The latter requires the late endosomal/lysosomal adaptor and MAPK and mTOR activator (LAMTOR/Ragulator) complex, which serves to translate the nutrient status of the cell to the respective kinase.

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Active thermogenic adipocytes avidly consume energy substrates like fatty acids and glucose to maintain body temperature upon cold exposure. Despite strong evidence for the involvement of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in controlling systemic energy homeostasis upon nutrient excess, it is unclear how the activity of brown adipocytes is regulated in times of nutrient scarcity. Therefore, this study aimed to scrutinize factors that modulate BAT activity to balance thermogenic and energetic needs upon simultaneous fasting and cold stress.

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Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) plays a key role in intracellular lipolysis, the mobilization of stored triacylglycerol. This work provides an important basis for generating reproducible and detailed data on the hydrolytic and transacylation activities of ATGL. We generated full-length and C-terminally truncated ATGL variants fused with various affinity tags and analyzed their expression in different hosts, namely E.

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Thermogenic adipocytes possess a therapeutically appealing, energy-expending capacity, which is canonically cold-induced by ligand-dependent activation of β-adrenergic G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Here, we uncover an alternate paradigm of GPCR-mediated adipose thermogenesis through the constitutively active receptor, GPR3. We show that the N terminus of GPR3 confers intrinsic signaling activity, resulting in continuous Gs-coupling and cAMP production without an exogenous ligand.

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Modulation of adipocyte lipolysis represents an attractive approach to treat metabolic diseases. Lipolysis mainly depends on two enzymes: adipose triglyceride lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL). Here, we investigated the short- and long-term impact of adipocyte HSL on energy homeostasis using adipocyte-specific HSL knockout (AHKO) mice.

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Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a highly prevalent and intractable form of cardiac decompensation commonly associated with diastolic dysfunction. Here, we show that diastolic dysfunction in patients with HFpEF is associated with a cardiac deficit in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). Elevating NAD by oral supplementation of its precursor, nicotinamide, improved diastolic dysfunction induced by aging (in 2-year-old C57BL/6J mice), hypertension (in salt-sensitive rats), or cardiometabolic syndrome (in ZSF1 obese rats).

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Branched esters of palmitic acid and hydroxy stearic acid are antiinflammatory and antidiabetic lipokines that belong to a family of fatty acid (FA) esters of hydroxy fatty acids (HFAs) called FAHFAs. FAHFAs themselves belong to oligomeric FA esters, known as estolides. Glycerol-bound FAHFAs in triacylglycerols (TAGs), named TAG estolides, serve as metabolite reservoir of FAHFAs mobilized by lipases upon demand.

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Cold exposure activates brown and brown-like adipocytes that dissipate large amounts of glucose and fatty acids via uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) to drive non-shivering thermogenesis (NST). Evidence for the existence of these thermogenic adipocytes in adult humans gave rise to a renaissance in research on brown adipose tissue, establishing it as linchpin of energy homeostasis and metabolic health. Besides low ambient temperature, shortage or excess of food affect thermoregulation.

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Bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (BMP), also known as lysobisphosphatidic acid, is a phospholipid that promotes lipid sorting in late endosomes/lysosomes by activating lipid hydrolases and lipid transfer proteins. Changes in the cellular BMP content therefore reflect an altered metabolic activity of the endolysosomal system. Surprisingly, little is known about the physiological regulation of BMP.

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The catabolism of intracellular triacylglycerols (TAGs) involves the activity of cytoplasmic and lysosomal enzymes. Cytoplasmic TAG hydrolysis, commonly termed lipolysis, is catalyzed by the sequential action of three major hydrolases, namely adipose triglyceride lipase, hormone-sensitive lipase, and monoacylglycerol lipase. All three enzymes interact with numerous protein binding partners that modulate their activity, cellular localization, or stability.

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Branched esters of palmitic acid and hydroxystearic acid (PAHSA) are anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic lipokines that connect glucose and lipid metabolism. We aimed to characterize involvement of the 5-PAHSA regioisomer in the adaptive metabolic response of white adipose tissue (WAT) to cold exposure (CE) in mice, exploring the cross talk between glucose utilization and lipid metabolism. CE promoted local production of 5- and 9-PAHSAs in WAT.

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-acetylaspartate (NAA) is synthesized by aspartate -acetyltransferase (gene: ) from acetyl-coenzyme A and aspartate. In the brain, NAA is considered an important energy metabolite for lipid synthesis. However, the role of NAA in peripheral tissues remained elusive.

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Aims: Lipotoxic cardiomyopathy in diabetic and obese patients typically encompasses increased cardiac fatty acid (FA) uptake eventually surpassing the mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Lowering FA utilization via inhibition of lipolysis represents a strategy to counteract the development of lipotoxic heart dysfunction. However, defective cardiac triacylglycerol (TAG) catabolism and FA oxidation in humans (and mice) carrying mutated ATGL alleles provokes lipotoxic heart dysfunction questioning a therapeutic approach to decrease cardiac lipolysis.

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Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) hydrolyzes cholesteryl ester (CE) and retinyl ester (RE) and triglyceride (TG). Mice globally lacking LAL accumulate CE most prominently in the liver. The severity of the CE accumulation phenotype progresses with age and is accompanied by hepatomegaly and hepatic cholesterol crystal deposition.

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Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) has been discovered 14 years ago and revised our view on intracellular triglyceride (TG) mobilization - a process termed lipolysis. ATGL initiates the hydrolysis of TGs to release fatty acids (FAs) that are crucial energy substrates, precursors for the synthesis of membrane lipids, and ligands of nuclear receptors. Thus, ATGL is a key enzyme in whole-body energy homeostasis.

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The coordination of the organ-specific responses regulating systemic energy distribution to replenish lipid stores in acutely activated brown adipose tissue (BAT) remains elusive. Here, we show that short-term cold exposure or acute β3-adrenergic receptor (β3AR) stimulation results in secretion of the anabolic hormone insulin. This process is diminished in adipocyte-specific Atgl mice, indicating that lipolysis in white adipose tissue (WAT) promotes insulin secretion.

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Elevated circulating fatty acids (FAs) contribute to obesity-associated metabolic complications, but the mechanisms by which insulin suppresses lipolysis are poorly understood. We show that α/β-hydrolase domain-containing 15 (ABHD15) is required for the anti-lipolytic action of insulin in white adipose tissue (WAT). Neither insulin nor glucose treatments can suppress FA mobilization in global and conditional Abhd15-knockout (KO) mice.

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Fatty acids (FAs) activate and fuel UCP1-mediated non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Release of FAs from intracellular fat stores by adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) is considered a key step in NST. Accordingly, the severe cold intolerance of global ATGL knockout (AKO) mice has been attributed to defective BAT lipolysis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cold-induced thermogenesis helps warm-blooded animals maintain their body temperature in low temperatures by increasing energy expenditure.
  • Researchers found that when exposed to cold, the liver produces acylcarnitines, which are necessary for brown fat to generate heat, and this process is activated by white fat releasing free fatty acids.
  • Additionally, providing L-carnitine or palmitoylcarnitine can improve cold sensitivity in older mice, demonstrating how different fat tissues work together to help manage body temperature in colder environments.
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Elevated circulating fatty acids (FAs) contribute to the development of obesity-associated metabolic complications such as insulin resistance (IR) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Hence, reducing adipose tissue lipolysis to diminish the mobilization of FAs and lower their respective plasma concentrations represents a potential treatment strategy to counteract obesity-associated disorders. Here we show that specific inhibition of adipose triglyceride lipase (Atgl) with the chemical inhibitor, Atglistatin, effectively reduces adipose tissue lipolysis, weight gain, IR and NAFLD in mice fed a high-fat diet.

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Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) initiates intracellular triglyceride (TG) catabolism. In humans, ATGL deficiency causes neutral lipid storage disease with myopathy (NLSDM) characterized by a systemic TG accumulation. Mice with a genetic deletion of ATGL (AKO) also accumulate TG in many tissues.

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