Adipose tissue protein profiling: modulation by vitamin D receptor

Area of Science:

• * Molecular biology
• * Biochemistry
• * Endocrinology

Background:

• * Limited understanding of adipose tissue protein expression in vitamin D deficiency.
• * Potential adverse effects of altered protein expression on metabolic diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To investigate the impact of vitamin D receptor knockout (VDRKO) on the adipose tissue proteome.
• * To identify differentially expressed and succinylated proteins in VDR-deficient mice.
• * To explore the role of succinylation in energy metabolism.

Main Methods:

• * Comparative proteomic analysis of VDRKO and wild-type (WT) mice adipose tissue.
• * Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) for targeted protein verification.
• * Integrated proteomic and succinylomic analyses.

Main Results:

• * VDR deletion significantly altered the adipose tissue molecular landscape, with 572 differentially expressed and 313 differentially succinylated proteins identified.
• * Upregulation of proteins involved in biological regulation, metabolic processes, and ribosomal/ER functions in VDRKO mice.
• * Downregulation of collagen proteins and enrichment of proteins in complement/coagulation and digestion/absorption pathways.
• * Extensive succinylation modifications observed in energy metabolism proteins, suggesting a broad regulatory role.

Conclusions:

• * First comprehensive proteomic and succinylomic profile of VDRKO adipose tissue.
• * Succinylation identified as a novel regulatory mechanism in energy metabolism.
• * Findings advance understanding of vitamin D signaling in adipose biology and offer potential therapeutic targets for metabolic disorders.