AI Article Synopsis

  • Cells can get used to cold temperatures by changing their fats and making their membranes more flexible.
  • Scientists found a big protein called LPD-3 in tiny worms (C. elegans) that helps move fats around inside the cells to help them survive cold better.
  • When LPD-3 doesn't work right, the worms can't handle the cold as well, and this problem is similar in other animals, including fish and humans.

Article Abstract

Cells adapt to cold by increasing levels of unsaturated phospholipids and membrane fluidity through conserved homeostatic mechanisms. Here we report an exceptionally large and evolutionarily conserved protein LPD-3 in C. elegans that mediates lipid trafficking to confer cold resilience. We identify lpd-3 mutants in a mutagenesis screen for genetic suppressors of the lipid desaturase FAT-7. LPD-3 bridges the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and plasma membranes (PM), forming a structurally predicted hydrophobic tunnel for lipid trafficking. lpd-3 mutants exhibit abnormal phospholipid distribution, diminished FAT-7 abundance, organismic vulnerability to cold, and are rescued by Lecithin comprising unsaturated phospholipids. Deficient lpd-3 homologues in Zebrafish and mammalian cells cause defects similar to those observed in C. elegans. As mutations in BLTP1, the human orthologue of lpd-3, cause Alkuraya-Kucinskas syndrome, LPD-3 family proteins may serve as evolutionarily conserved highway bridges critical for ER-associated non-vesicular lipid trafficking and resilience to cold stress in eukaryotic cells.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9649747PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34450-yDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

lipid trafficking
16
cold resilience
8
unsaturated phospholipids
8
evolutionarily conserved
8
lpd-3 mutants
8
lpd-3
7
lipid
5
cold
5
conserved
4
conserved megaprotein-based
4

Similar Publications

Regulation of autophagy by protein lipidation.

Adv Biotechnol (Singap)

September 2024

Department of Neurosurgery, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.

Autophagy is a conserved catabolic recycling pathway that can eliminate cytosolic materials to maintain homeostasis and organelle functions. Many studies over the past few decades have demonstrated that abnormal autophagy is associated with a variety of diseases. Protein lipidation plays an important role in the regulation of autophagy by affecting protein trafficking, localization, stability, interactions and signal transduction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Flotillins in membrane trafficking and physiopathology.

Biol Cell

January 2025

CRBM (Centre de Recherche en Biologie cellulaire de Montpellier), BIOLuM, University of Montpellier, CNRS UMR 5237, Montpellier, France.

Flotillin 1 and 2 are highly conserved and homologous members of the stomatin, prohibitin, flotillin, HflK/C (SPFH) family. These ubiquitous proteins assemble into hetero-oligomers at the cytoplasmic membrane in sphingolipid-enriched domains. Flotillins play crucial roles in various cellular processes, likely by concentrating sphingosine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Probing and imaging phospholipid dynamics in live cells.

Life Metab

August 2024

State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.

Distinct phospholipid species display specific distribution patterns across cellular membranes, which are important for their structural and signaling roles and for preserving the integrity and functionality of the plasma membrane and organelles. Recent advancements in lipid biosensor technology and imaging modalities now allow for direct observation of phospholipid distribution, trafficking, and dynamics in living cells. These innovations have markedly advanced our understanding of phospholipid function and regulation at both cellular and subcellular levels.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ferroptosis has been characterised by disruption of the cell membrane through iron-related lipid peroxidation. However, regulation of iron homeostasis in lung cancer cells that are resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) remains unclear. Transcriptome analysis identified a significant downregulation of apoptosis-associated tyrosine kinase (AATK) mRNA expression in gefitinib-resistant PC9 (PC9-GR) cells, which were found to be more susceptible to ferroptosis inducers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mapping organism-wide single cell mRNA expression linked to extracellular vesicle biogenesis, secretion and cargo.

Function (Oxf)

January 2025

Department of Health and Exercise Science, College of Health and Human Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are functional lipid-bound nanoparticles trafficked between cells and found in every biofluid. It is widely claimed that EVs can be secreted by every cell, but the quantity and composition of these EVs can differ greatly among cell types and tissues. Defining this heterogeneity has broad implications for EV-based communication in health and disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!