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The liver plays a pivotal role in maintaining energy homeostasis. Hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism are tightly regulated in order to adapt quickly to changes in nutrient availability. Postprandially, the liver lowers the blood glucose levels and stores nutrients in form of glycogen and triglycerides (TG). In contrast, upon fasting, the liver provides glucose, TG, and ketone bodies. However, obesity resulting from a discrepancy in food intake and energy expenditure leads to abnormal fat accumulation in the liver, which is associated with the development of hepatic insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and diabetes. In this context, hepatic insulin resistance is directly linked to the accumulation of diacylglycerol (DAG) in the liver. Besides being an intermediate product of TG synthesis, DAG serves as second messenger in response to G-protein coupled receptor signaling. Protein kinase D (PKD) family members are DAG effectors that integrate multiple metabolic inputs. However, the impact of PKD signaling on liver physiology has not been studied so far. In this thesis, PKD3 was identified as the predominantly expressed isoform in liver. Stimulation of primary hepatocytes with DAG as well as high-fat diet (HFD) feeding of mice led to an activation of PKD3, indicating its relevance during obesity. HFD-fed mice lacking PKD3 specifically in hepatocytes displayed significantly improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. However, at the same time, hepatic deletion of PKD3 in mice resulted in elevated liver weight as a consequence of increased hepatic lipid accumulation. Lack of PKD3 in hepatocytes promoted sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-mediated de novo lipogenesis in vitro and in vivo, and thus increased hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol content. Furthermore, PKD3 suppressed the activation of SREBP by impairing the activity of the insulin effectors protein kinase B (AKT) and mechanistic target of rapamycin complexes (mTORC) 1 and 2. In contrast, liver-specific overexpression of constitutive active PKD3 promoted glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. Taken together, lack of PKD3 improves hepatic insulin sensitivity but promotes hepatic lipid accumulation. For this reason, manipulating PKD3 signaling might be a valid strategy to improve hepatic lipid content or insulin sensitivity. However, the exact molecular mechanism by which PKD3 regulates hepatocytes metabolism remains unclear.
Unbiased proteomic approaches were performed in order to identify PKD3 phosphorylation targets. In this process, numerous potential targets of PKD3 were detected, which are implicated in different aspects of cellular metabolism. Among other hits, phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) was identified as a target of PKD3 in hepatocytes. PAH is the enzyme that is responsible for the conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. In fact, manipulation of PKD3 activity using genetic tools confirmed that PKD3 promotes PAH-dependent conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. Therefore, the data in this thesis suggests that PKD3 coordinates lipid and amino acid metabolism in the liver and contributes to the development of hepatic dysfunction.
Protein Kinase D2 drives chylomicron‐mediated lipid transport in the intestine and promotes obesity
(2021)
Lipids are the most energy‐dense components of the diet, and their overconsumption promotes obesity and diabetes. Dietary fat content has been linked to the lipid processing activity by the intestine and its overall capacity to absorb triglycerides (TG). However, the signaling cascades driving intestinal lipid absorption in response to elevated dietary fat are largely unknown. Here, we describe an unexpected role of the protein kinase D2 (PKD2) in lipid homeostasis. We demonstrate that PKD2 activity promotes chylomicron‐mediated TG transfer in enterocytes. PKD2 increases chylomicron size to enhance the TG secretion on the basolateral side of the mouse and human enterocytes, which is associated with decreased abundance of APOA4. PKD2 activation in intestine also correlates positively with circulating TG in obese human patients. Importantly, deletion, inactivation, or inhibition of PKD2 ameliorates high‐fat diet‐induced obesity and diabetes and improves gut microbiota profile in mice. Taken together, our findings suggest that PKD2 represents a key signaling node promoting dietary fat absorption and may serve as an attractive target for the treatment of obesity.