title: Fat synthesis and adiposity regulation in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Understanding the regulation of fat synthesis and the consequences of its misregulation is of profound significance for managing the obesity epidemic and developing obesity therapeutics. Recent work in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has revealed the importance of evolutionarily conserved pathways of fat synthesis and nutrient sensing in adiposity regulation. The powerful combination of mutational and reverse genetic analysis, genomics, lipid analysis, and cell-specific expression studies enables dissection of complicated pathways at the level of a whole organism. This review summarizes recent studies in C. elegans that offer insights into the regulation of adiposity by conserved transcription factors, insulin and growth factor signaling, and unsaturated fatty acid synthesis. Increased understanding of fat-storage pathways might lead to future obesity therapies.
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. jwatts@wsu.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Watts
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001069:Appetite Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000502:physiology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases