Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
Saturated fatty acids modulate autophagy's proteins in the hypothalamus
Mariana Portovedo1, Letícia M Ignacio-Souza2, Bruna Bombassaro3
1Faculty of Applied Science, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Limeira, Brazil; Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil.
Abstract:
Autophagy is an important process that regulates cellular homeostasis by degrading dysfunctional proteins, organelles and lipids. In this study, the hypothesis that obesity could lead to impairment in hypothalamic autophagy in mice was evaluated by examining the hypothalamic distribution and content of autophagic proteins in animal with obesity induced by 8 or 16 weeks high fat diet to induce obesity and in response to intracerebroventricular injections of palmitic acid. The results showed that chronic exposure to a high fat diet leads to an increased expression of inflammatory markers and downregulation of autophagic proteins. In obese mice, autophagic induction leads to the downregulation of proteins, such as JNK and Bax, which are involved in the stress pathways. In neuron cell-line, palmitate has a direct effect on autophagy even without inflammatory activity. Understanding the cellular and molecular bases of overnutrition is essential for identifying new diagnostic and therapeutic targets for obesity.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Autophagy
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...
Regulation of Food Intake
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...

