Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
Department of Biochemistry 1, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Humboldtstraβe 50/II, A-8010 Graz, Austria.
J Exp Biol. 2018 Mar 7;221(Pt Suppl 1):jeb163881. doi: 10.1242/jeb.163881.
Excess adipose fat accumulation, or obesity, is a growing problem worldwide in terms of both the rate of incidence and the severity of obesity-associated metabolic disease. Adipose tissue evolved in animals as a specialized dynamic lipid storage depot: adipose cells synthesize fat (a process called lipogenesis) when energy is plentiful and mobilize stored fat (a process called lipolysis) when energy is needed. When a disruption of lipid homeostasis favors increased fat synthesis and storage with little turnover owing to genetic predisposition, overnutrition or sedentary living, complications such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are more likely to arise. The vinegar fly (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is used as a model to better understand the mechanisms governing fat metabolism and distribution. Flies offer a wealth of paradigms with which to study the regulation and physiological effects of fat accumulation. Obese flies accumulate triacylglycerols in the fat body, an organ similar to mammalian adipose tissue, which specializes in lipid storage and catabolism. Discoveries in have ranged from endocrine hormones that control obesity to subcellular mechanisms that regulate lipogenesis and lipolysis, many of which are evolutionarily conserved. Furthermore, obese flies exhibit pathophysiological complications, including hyperglycemia, reduced longevity and cardiovascular function - similar to those observed in obese humans. Here, we review some of the salient features of the fly that enable researchers to study the contributions of feeding, absorption, distribution and the metabolism of lipids to systemic physiology.
脂肪堆积过多，即肥胖，是一个在全球范围内都在不断增长的问题，无论是肥胖相关代谢疾病的发病率还是严重程度都在增加。在动物中，脂肪组织是一种专门的动态脂质储存库：当能量充足时，脂肪细胞会合成脂肪（这个过程称为脂肪生成），而当需要能量时，它们会动员储存的脂肪（这个过程称为脂肪分解）。当脂质稳态失衡时，由于遗传倾向、营养过剩或久坐不动的生活方式等原因，脂肪的合成和储存增加，而周转率却很少，就会出现糖尿病和心血管疾病等并发症。醋蝇（双翅目：果蝇科）被用作模型来更好地理解控制脂肪代谢和分布的机制。果蝇提供了丰富的范例，可以用来研究脂肪积累的调节和生理效应。肥胖的果蝇会在脂肪体中积累三酰基甘油，脂肪体类似于哺乳动物的脂肪组织，专门用于脂质储存和分解代谢。在这方面的研究发现了从控制肥胖的内分泌激素到调节脂肪生成和脂肪分解的亚细胞机制，其中许多机制在进化上是保守的。此外，肥胖的果蝇还表现出病理生理学并发症，包括高血糖、寿命缩短和心血管功能下降——这些与肥胖人群中观察到的情况相似。在这里，我们将回顾一些蝇类的显著特征，这些特征使研究人员能够研究进食、吸收、分布和脂质代谢对全身生理学的贡献。
