Lipid droplets are ubiquitous fat storage organelles and play central roles in lipid metabolism in both health and disease. These complex, dynamic organelles have been implicated in cellular functions well beyond lipid homeostasis. In particular, they have been proposed to serve as temporary storage sites for toxic or unstable proteins, as assembly platforms for macromolecular complexes, or as vehicles to deliver proteins intracellularly. Although lipid droplets clearly play an important role in the life cycle f several viruses and likely promote viral assembly, whether they act as transient protein sequestration site for endogenous proteins remains unresolved. A long list of proteins from other cellular compartments has been shown to relocate to lipid droplets in a regulated manner, but whether these proteins perform novel functions at the droplet surface or are indeed regulated by droplet association is unclear. A critical test of the sequestration model has important implications for our understanding of basic cellular and developmental processes as well as for the management of human diseases resulting from aberrant fat storage, including lipodystrophies and obesity. The goal of this project is to resolve this issue for one particularly provocative case of proposed protein sequestration, histone storage on lipid droplets in early Drosophila embryos. In this model system, it is possible to combine genetics, biochemistry and live imaging to address this general question. In these embryos, massive amounts of certain histones associate transiently with lipid droplets; this association is mediated by the novel protein Jabba, the putative histone anchor on droplets. In the absence of Jabba, histone levels in embryos are dramatically reduced and - when new histone synthesis is mildly compromised - embryos die with phenotypes indicating lack of sufficient histone supplies. These observations support a model that histones are stored on lipid droplets for later use in development. The goal of this project is to test central predictions of this model. Using a structure-function approach, the domains of Jabba that mediate droplet and histone binding will be identified and the physical state of histones on the droplets will be determined. This information will be employed to generate Jabba mutants lacking specific interactions or mislocalized to other cellular compartments; these mutants will be tested for their ability to rescue high histone levels and normal development. Live imaging and droplet transplantation will address how quickly histones are transferred from lipid droplets to nuclei and whether Jabba remains stably behind. Finally, histone overexpression will be employed to address if droplets normally buffer the histone supply and protect against histone overabundance. If successful, the proposed studies will provide novel insights into both histone metabolism and lipid-droplet function. Most importantly, these studies will provide a paradigm for how and why proteins from other compartments are transiently sequestered on lipid droplets.

Public Health Relevance

Aberrant function of lipid droplets, the sites of cellular fat storage, has been linked to a host of human diseases, from obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes to liver problems, wasting diseases, and propagation of viruses. Previously, lipid-droplet studies focused on their role in fat metabolism. This project explores a new function of droplets in regulated protein sequestration, a function that potentially contributes to the origin r severity of these diseases.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
4R01GM102155-04
Application #
9016559
Study Section
Membrane Biology and Protein Processing Study Section (MBPP)
Program Officer
Chin, Jean
Project Start
2013-04-01
Project End
2017-02-28
Budget Start
2016-03-01
Budget End
2017-02-28
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Rochester
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041294109
City
Rochester
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14627
Fanning, Saranna; Haque, Aftabul; Imberdis, Thibaut et al. (2018) Lipidomic Analysis of ?-Synuclein Neurotoxicity Identifies Stearoyl CoA Desaturase as a Target for Parkinson Treatment. Mol Cell :
Nardi, Francesca; Fitchev, Philip; Franco, Omar E et al. (2018) PEDF regulates plasticity of a novel lipid-MTOC axis in prostate cancer-associated fibroblasts. J Cell Sci 131:
Johnson, Matthew Richard; Stephenson, Roxan Amanda; Ghaemmaghami, Sina et al. (2018) Developmentally regulated H2Av buffering via dynamic sequestration to lipid droplets in Drosophila embryos. Elife 7:
Pennetta, Giuseppa; Welte, Michael A (2018) Emerging Links between Lipid Droplets and Motor Neuron Diseases. Dev Cell 45:427-432
Welte, Michael A; Gould, Alex P (2017) Lipid droplet functions beyond energy storage. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids 1862:1260-1272
Kolkhof, Petra; Werthebach, Michael; van de Venn, Anna et al. (2017) A Luciferase-fragment Complementation Assay to Detect Lipid Droplet-associated Protein-Protein Interactions. Mol Cell Proteomics 16:329-345
Arora, Gurpreet K; Tran, Susan L; Rizzo, Nicholas et al. (2016) Temporal control of bidirectional lipid-droplet motion in Drosophila depends on the ratio of kinesin-1 and its co-factor Halo. J Cell Sci 129:1416-28
Welte, Michael A (2015) Expanding roles for lipid droplets. Curr Biol 25:R470-81
Welte, Michael A (2015) As the fat flies: The dynamic lipid droplets of Drosophila embryos. Biochim Biophys Acta 1851:1156-85
Li, Zhihuan; Johnson, Matthew R; Ke, Zhonghe et al. (2014) Drosophila lipid droplets buffer the H2Av supply to protect early embryonic development. Curr Biol 24:1485-91