Impaired de novo choline synthesis explains why phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase-deficient mice are protected from diet-induced obesity.

ABSTRACT: Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is synthesized from choline via the CDP-choline pathway. Liver cells can also synthesize PC via the sequential methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine, catalyzed by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT). The current study investigates whether or not hepatic PC biosynthesis is linked to diet-induced obesity. Pemt(+/+) mice fed a high fat diet for 10 weeks increased in body mass by 60% and displayed insulin resistance, whereas Pemt(-/-) mice did not. Compared with Pemt(+/+) mice, Pemt(-/-) mice had increased energy expenditure and maintained normal peripheral insulin sensitivity; however, they developed hepatomegaly and steatosis. In contrast, mice with impaired biosynthesis of PC via the CDP-choline pathway in liver became obese when fed a high fat die

SUBMITTER: Jacobs RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2903412 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature