title: Effects of structural changes of fatty acids on lipid accumulation in adipocytes and primary hepatocytes.
abstract: Conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are all shown to differently affect lipid homeostasis. Additionally, previous studies have shown that introducing a methyl group in the molecule potentiates the hypolipidemic effect of EPA. The objective of this study was to determine how cis9,trans11 CLA, trans10,cis12 CLA, TTA, EPA and DHA affect lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and in cultured primary rat hepatocytes, and to what extent changes in cis/trans configuration or introducing a methyl group in the molecules influence their way of affecting lipid accumulation in these cells. Our results show that trans10,cis12 CLA is highly specific in preventing lipid accumulation in adipocytes, and that small structural changes in the molecule (changing to trans/trans or introducing an alpha-methyl group) totally abolish this effect and up-regulate the expression levels of adipogenic marker genes towards control levels. Furthermore, all the fatty acids increased hepatic lipid accumulation, whereas the lipid content was normalized after adding an alpha-methyl group into the molecules. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the various fatty acids are highly specialized molecules, and that small structural changes markedly alter their way of affecting lipid accumulation in adipocytes and hepatocytes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, P.O.B. 1046 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Granlund
authors.forename: Laila N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: Hilde I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Nebb
authors.forename: Jan I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Pedersen
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D015394:Molecular Structure; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids; D012333:RNA, Messenger