orsai, an essential regulator of lipid metabolism

MAGDALENA FERNÁNDEZ-ACOSTA; MARÍA FERNANDA CERIANI; JUAN IGNACIO ROMERO

C.A.B.A.

Congreso; 10th meeting of the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology; 2019

Latin American Society for Developmental Biology (LASDB)

During development, Drosophila undergoes a metabolic switch at the end of embryogenesis, changing its metabolic program from lipolysis during the embryonic stage to lipogenesisduring larval stages in order to provide energy and support growth. We have identified a lethal mutation associated to a novel gene (CG6115), that we have renamedorsai (osi). Animals depleted of osi are not able to develop beyond the first instar larvae and die within the first 72 h after egg lying. Sequence analysis suggests OSIcould be an orthologue of human ETFRF1/LYRm5, a poorly characterized protein associated to the regulation of ETF, an entry point to β-oxidation products into the electrontransport chain, and thus a regulator of lipid metabolism. Interestingly, orsai depletion leads to reduced lipid storage and organismal size, and decreased mitochondrialhealth. In this regard, we have found that overexpression of human ETFRF1/LYRm5 partially rescues the lethality observed in osi depleted animals, strongly suggesting thatORSAI could work as a Drosophila orthologue of human ETFRF1/LYRm5. Our results lend support to a new