Transcriptional regulation of hepatic fatty acid metabolism

The liver is a major site of fatty acid synthesis and degradation. Transcriptional regulation is one of several mechanisms controlling hepatic metabolism of fatty acids. Two transcription factors, namely SREBP1-c and PPARalpha, appear to be the main players controlling synthesis and degradation of fatty acids respectively. This chapter briefly presents fatty acid metabolism. The first part focuses on SREBP1-c contribution to the control of gene expression relevant to fatty acid synthesis and the main mechanisms of activation for this transcriptional program. The second part reviews the evidence for the involvement of PPARalpha in the control of fatty acid degradation and the key features of this nuclear receptor. Finally, the third part aims at summarizing recent advances in our current understanding of how these two transcription factors fit in the regulatory networks that sense hormones or nutrients, including cellular fatty acids, and govern the transcription of genes implicated in hepatic fatty acid metabolism.