Perilipin 1-3 in grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella: molecular characterization, gene structure, tissue distribution, and mRNA expression in DHA-induced lipid droplet formation in adipocytes.

Perilipin family is the main structural proteins of lipid droplet (LD) that is intracellular neutral lipid store ponds, and regulates LD assembly and formation, and is crucial for lipid metabolism. Here three paralogs of perilipin family were characterized from grass carp and their complete coding sequences (CDS) were obtained, including perilipin1, perilipin2, and perilipin3, coding peptides of 492, 454, and 419 amino acids, respectively. The alignment of the homology of grass carp perilipin deduced amino acid sequences with other teleost species showed that the homology with mammalian was less than 55%. PAT (perilipin) domain in mammalian was also predicted in grass carp perilipin 1-3 proteins. Genomic organization analysis revealed that grass carp perilipin1 contained 6 coding exons, while both perilipin2 and perilipin3 consisted of 7 coding exons. The mRNA encoding three paralogs were expressed in a wide range of tissues; perilipin1-3 were primarily expressed in adipose tissue and liver; besides, perilipin3 was also highly expressed in the heart. In vitro, 200 μM DHA increased the proportion of smaller lipid droplets effectively in fully differentiated adipocytes of grass carp. The mRNA expression of perilipin1, perilipin2, and perilipin3 was significantly increased in the adipocytes treated with DHA (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The same responses of different paralogs in the adipocytes during DHA treatment suggest that they might play synergistic roles in the formation of LDs.