LFABP knockdown impairs fatty acid asymilation and metabolism in Caco-2 cells

FALOMIR LOCKHART LISANDRO JORGE; RODRIGUEZ SAWICKI LUCIANA; FRANCHINI GISELA; STORCH JUDITH; CÓRSICO BETINA

San Miguel de Tucumán

Congreso; XLV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB); 2009

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB)

The intestine assimilates and processes a large quantity of lipids incorporated with the diet. Lipids are assimilated mainly as free fatty acids (FA), cholesterol and monoacylglicerol to be then reesterified inside the enterocytes and secreted as Quilomicrons into the lymph. The classical functions attributed to FABP are the cytosolic buffer and transport of hydrophobic ligands. Nevertheless, new functions have been suggested related to the control of gene expression. It is suggested that intestinal FABP would facilitate the intracellular transport of FA and that they could also have a role in the regulation of lipid metabolism and other cellular processes. In this work we obtained a LFABP knock-down model in Caco-2 cells by anti-mRNA overexpression. We analized the effect on the assimilation, metabolism and secretion of FA as well as on the cellular proliferation and differentiation processes. No compensation by IFABP in differentiated cells was observed. Konck-down clones showed a marked decrease in oleate assimilation, while palmitate assimilation was increased. Differences in FA distribution were observed at short time, but they disappeared after hours and no change in oleate distribution was observed in secreted lipids. On the other hand, cell proliferation and differentiation were slowed. These results indicate that LFABP is an important factor on enterocyte functionality.