The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) glorund functions in the fat body to regulate lipid storage and transport.

The availability of excess nutrients in Western diets has led to the overaccumulation of these nutrients as triglycerides, a condition known as obesity. The full complement of genes important for regulating triglyceride storage is not completely understood. Genome-wide RNAi screens in cells have identified genes involved in mRNA splicing as important lipid storage regulators. Our lab has shown that a group of splicing factors called heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) regulate lipid metabolism in the fly fat body; however, the identities of all the hnRNPs that function to control triglyceride storage are not known. Here, we used the GAL4/UAS system to induce RNAi to the hnRNP () in the fat body to assess whether this hnRNP has any metabolic functions. Decreasing levels resulted in less triglycerides being stored throughout the fly. Interestingly, decreasing fat body expression resulted in increased triglyceride storage in the fat body, but blunted triglyceride storage in non-fat body tissues, suggesting a defect in lipid transport. Consistent with this hypothesis, the expression of (), (), and (), apolipoprotein genes important for lipid transport through the fly hemolymph, was decreased in -RNAi flies, suggesting that regulates the transport of lipids from the fly fat body to surrounding tissues. Together, these results indicate that plays a role in controlling lipid transport and storage and provide additional evidence of the link between gene expression and the regulation of lipid metabolism.