Adipose tissue plays a central role in lipid metabolism and the maintenance of energy homeostasis. Dysregulation of adipocyte development or function contributes to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis. The long-term goal of this Project is to understand the molecular pathways that control adipocyte differentiation and function, a goal which central to the overall theme of this PPG. Ultimately, elucidation of such pathways is expected to outline new opportunities for therapeutic intervention in human metabolic disease. The first Specific Aim is to define the function of novel transcription factors involved in triglyceride storage. We have utilized a high throughput screening approach to identify new genes that stimulate lipid accumulation in cell culture models of adipogenesis. Our initial focus will be on TLE3, a transcriptional corepressor with no previously recognized link to lipid metabolism. TLE3 is preferentially expressed in adipose tissue, is upregulated in murine models of obesity/diabetes, and is downregulated in lipodystrophic Lipinl-/- mice. We hypothesize that TLE3 acts through the direct regulation of adipocyte gene expression and that alterations in TLE3 activity may contribute to insulin resistance and/or obesity. We propose: (a) to identify target genes for TLE3, (b) to test the hypothesis that TLE3 serves as a cofactor for adipomodulatory transcription factors, (c) to determine the role of TLE3 in metabolism in vivo, and (d) to test the hypothesis that TLE3 and lipins cooperate in the control of adipocyte gene expression. The second Specific Aim is to identify the mechanism of action of small molecule regulators of adipogenesis. We have utilized high throughput screening to identify new small molecule inducers of lipid accumulation, including one compound, harmine, that regulates expression of the entire PPARy/lipin- 1/GPIHBP1 axis in vivo. Moreover, harmine has anti-diabetic activity in mice, validating our approach as a new strategy for the identification pharamcologic regulators of metabolism. We hypothesize that defining the molecular mechanism by which small molecules alter the adipogenic program will lead to the identification of new signaling pathways. We propose to: (a) map the cis-acting elements that mediate the activity of small molecules on the PPARy promoter, (b) identify mediators of small molecule action on adipogenesis, (c) test the hypothesis that small molecule regulators of PPARy expression comprise a novel class of pharmacologic regulators of lipid and glucose metabolism in vivo, (d) determine the mechanism whereby harmine regulates GPIHBP1 expression, and (e) to examine crosstalk between transcriptional pathways elucidated in Aim 1 and small molecule signaling pathways characterized in Aim 2.
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