The role of perilipin in human obesity and insulin... : Current Opinion in Lipidology (original) (raw)
Genetics and molecular biology
aDepartment of Endocrinology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
bDepartment of Medicine and Center for Molecular Epidemiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore
cNutrition and Genomics Laboratory, JM-USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Correspondence to E.S. Tai, Department of Endocrinology, Singapore General Hospital, Block 6 level 6, Room B35, Outram Road, Singapore 276692 Tel: +65 6321 4654; fax: +65 6227 3576; e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Purpose of review
More than 1.1 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese. We know that obesity is determined by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Although hundreds of obesity candidate genes have been identified through different metabolic pathways, the fundamental basis of obesity resides with excessive storage of triacylglycerides in adipose tissue.
Recent findings
The mechanisms that control the storage and release of triacylglycerides in lipid droplets are complex and poorly understood; yet, they are likely to be crucial to the understanding of the regulation of body weight. In this regard, the family of perilipin, adipophilin and TIP47 proteins may play key roles in obesity. It has recently been shown that variants at the perilipin locus were associated with BMI and obesity risk in females from several population studies. Moreover, the reported interactions between perilipin and dietary factors may shed light on the complex relation between dietary intake and body weight changes observed on an individual basis.
Summary
These findings support an important role for PLIN as a candidate gene for obesity risk in humans as well as a modulator of dietary response to therapies aimed to reduce body weight and decrease metabolic syndrome risk.
© 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.