Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common liver disease, and decreased fatty acid oxidation is one of the important contributors to NAFLD. Mitochondrial trifunctional protein α-subunit (MTPα) functions as a critical enzyme for fatty acid β-oxidation, but whether dysregulation of MTPα is pathogenically connected to NAFLD is poorly understood. We show that MTPα is acetylated at lysine residues 350, 383, and 406 (MTPα-3K), which promotes its protein stability by antagonizing its ubiquitylation on the same three lysines (MTPα-3K) and blocking its subsequent degradation. Sirtuin 4 (SIRT4) has been identified as the deacetylase, deacetylating and destabilizing MTPα. Replacement of MTPα-3K with either MTPα-3KR or MTPα-3KQ inhibits cellular lipid accumulation both in free fatty acid (FFA)-treated alpha mouse liver 12 (AML12) cells and primary hepatocytes and in the livers of high-fat/high-sucrose (HF/HS) diet-fed mice. Moreover, knockdown of SIRT4 could phenocopy the effects of MTPα-3K mutant expression in mouse livers, and MTPα-3K mutants more efficiently attenuate SIRT4- mediated hepatic steatosis in HF/HS diet-fed mice. Importantly, acetylation of both MTPα and MTPα-3K is decreased while SIRT4 is increased in the livers of mice and humans with NAFLD. Our study reveals a novel mechanism of MTPα regulation by acetylation and ubiquitylation and a direct functional link of this regulation to NAFLD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2553-2567 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Molecular and Cellular Biology |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 20 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology