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Nuclear Receptor Regulation of Aquaglyceroporins in Metabolic Organs
Matteo Tardelli1, Thierry Claudel2, Francesca Virginia Bruschi3
1Hans Popper Laboratory of Molecular Hepatology, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Internal Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. matteo.tardelli@meduniwien.ac.at.
Abstract:
Nuclear receptors, such as the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma and alpha (PPAR-γ, -α), are major metabolic regulators in adipose tissue and the liver, where they govern lipid, glucose, and bile acid homeostasis, as well as inflammatory cascades. Glycerol and free fatty acids are the end products of lipid droplet catabolism driven by PPARs. Aquaporins (AQPs), a family of 13 small transmembrane proteins, facilitate the shuttling of water, urea, and/or glycerol. The peculiar role of AQPs in glycerol transport makes them pivotal targets in lipid metabolism, especially considering their tissue-specific regulation by the nuclear receptors PPARγ and PPARα. Here, we review the role of nuclear receptors in the regulation of glycerol shuttling in liver and adipose tissue through the function and expression of AQPs.
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