title: Akt signaling-associated metabolic effects of dietary gold nanoparticles in Drosophila.
abstract: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are often used as vehicles to deliver drugs or biomolecules, due to their mild effect on cell survival and proliferation. However, little is known about their effect on cellular metabolism. Here we examine the in vivo effect of AuNPs on metabolism using Drosophila as a model. Drosophila and vertebrates possess similar basic metabolic functions, and a highly conserved PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway plays a central role in the regulation of energy metabolism in both organisms. We show that dietary AuNPs enter the fat body, a key metabolic tissue in Drosophila larvae. Significantly, larvae fed with AuNP show increased lipid levels without triggering stress responses. In addition, activities of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and fatty acids synthesis are increased in these larvae. This study thus reveals a novel function of AuNPs in influencing animal metabolism and suggests its potential therapeutic applications for metabolic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Systems Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yingliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jiarui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Haiyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000378:metabolism*; D006046:Gold; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases