Fat-body brummer lipase determines survival and cardiac function during starvation in Drosophila melanogaster

Annelie Blumrich; Georg Vogler; Sandra Dresen; Soda Balla Diop; Carsten Jaeger; Sarah Leberer; Jana Grune; Eva K Wirth; Beata Hoeft; Kostja Renko; Anna Foryst-Ludwig; Joachim Spranger; Stephan Sigrist; Rolf Bodmer; Ulrich Kintscher

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102288

Fat-body brummer lipase determines survival and cardiac function during starvation in Drosophila melanogaster

iScience. 2021 Mar 9;24(4):102288. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102288. eCollection 2021 Apr 23.

Authors

Annelie Blumrich^{1

2

3}, Georg Vogler³, Sandra Dresen^{1

2}, Soda Balla Diop³, Carsten Jaeger⁴, Sarah Leberer^{1

2}, Jana Grune^{2

5}, Eva K Wirth^{2

6}, Beata Hoeft^{1

2}, Kostja Renko⁷, Anna Foryst-Ludwig^{1

2}, Joachim Spranger^{2

6}, Stephan Sigrist⁸, Rolf Bodmer³, Ulrich Kintscher^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Pharmacology, Center for Cardiovascular Research, CCR, Hessische Str. 3-4, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
² DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
⁴ Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany.
⁵ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Physiology, Berlin, Germany.
⁶ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Institute of Biology/Genetics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

The cross talk between adipose tissue and the heart has an increasing importance for cardiac function under physiological and pathological conditions. This study characterizes the role of fat body lipolysis for cardiac function in Drosophila melanogaster. Perturbation of the function of the key lipolytic enzyme, brummer (bmm), an ortholog of the mammalian ATGL (adipose triglyceride lipase) exclusively in the fly's fat body, protected the heart against starvation-induced dysfunction. We further provide evidence that this protection is caused by the preservation of glycerolipid stores, resulting in a starvation-resistant maintenance of energy supply and adequate cardiac ATP synthesis. Finally, we suggest that alterations of lipolysis are tightly coupled to lipogenic processes, participating in the preservation of lipid energy substrates during starvation. Thus, we identified the inhibition of adipose tissue lipolysis and subsequent energy preservation as a protective mechanism against cardiac dysfunction during catabolic stress.

Keywords: Lipidomics; Metabolomics; Molecular Physiology.

Abstract

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