Long chain fatty acids as modulators of gene transcription in preadipose cells

During the last years, it has been clearly established that long-chain fatty acids act as modulators of gene expression in various tissues, such as adipose tissue, intestine and liver. This transcriptional action of fatty acids explains in part adaptation mechanisms of tissues to nutritional changes and especially to high-fat diets by increasing expression of proteins involved in lipid catabolism in liver and fatty acid uptake and utilization in other tissues. It is now clearly demonstrated that some of these transcriptional effects of fatty acids are mediated by activation of specific nuclear hormone receptors, called peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). These findings will be discussed with a special reference to control of gene expression in preadipocytes and adipose tissue development.