MDT-28/PLIN-1 mediates lipid droplet-microtubule interaction via DLC-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans

Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 17;9(1):14902. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51399-z.

Abstract

Ectopic lipid accumulation in lipid droplets (LD) has been linked to many metabolic diseases. In this study, DHS-3::GFP was used as a LD marker in C. elegans and a forward genetic screen was carried out to find novel LD regulators. There were 140 mutant alleles identified which were divided into four phenotypic categories: enlarged, aggregated, aggregated and small, and decreased. After genetic mapping, mutations in three known LD regulatory genes (maoc-1, dhs-28, daf-22) and a peroxisome-related gene (acox-3) were found to enlarge LDs, demonstrating the reliability of using DHS-3 as a living marker. In the screen, the cytoskeleton protein C27H5.2 was found to be involved in LD aggregation, as was the LD resident/structure-like protein, MDT-28/PLIN-1. Using yeast two-hybrid screening and pull-down assays, MDT-28/PLIN-1 was found to bind to DLC-1 (dynein light chain). Fluorescence imaging confirmed that MDT-28/PLIN-1 mediated the interaction between DHS-3 labeled LDs and DLC-1 labeled microtubules. Furthermore, MDT-28/PLIN-1 was directly bound to DLC-1 through its amino acids 1-210 and 275-415. Taken together, our results suggest that MDT-28/PLIN-1 is involved in the regulation of LD distribution through its interaction with microtubule-related proteins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / metabolism*
  • Dyneins / genetics
  • Dyneins / metabolism*
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Lipid Droplets / metabolism*
  • Mediator Complex / genetics
  • Mediator Complex / metabolism*
  • Microtubules / metabolism*
  • Mutation
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding / genetics
  • RNA Interference

Substances

  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
  • MDT-28 protein, C elegans
  • Mediator Complex
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • DLC-1 protein, C elegans
  • Dyneins