Something worth dyeing for: Molecular tools for the dissection of lipid metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract 

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has during the last decade emerged as an invaluable eukaryotic model organism to understand the metabolic and neuro-endocrine regulation of lipid accumulation. The fundamental pathways of food intake, digestion, metabolism, and signalling are evolutionary conserved between mammals and worms making C. elegans a genetically and metabolically extremely tractable model to decipher new regulatory mechanisms of lipid storage and to understand how nutritional and genetic perturbations can lead to obesity and other metabolic diseases. Besides providing an overview of the most important regulatory mechanisms of lipid accumulation in C. elegans, we also critically assess the current methodologies to monitor lipid storage and content as various methods differ in their applicability, consistency, and simplicity.

Abbreviations: ATGL, adipocyte triglyceride lipase, C/EBP, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein, C. elegans, Caenorhabditis elegans, CARS, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, CtBP, C-terminal binding protein, EM, electron microscopy, FATP, fatty acid transport proteins, FIL, fasting induced lipase, GC, gas chromatography, GSC, germline stem cell, HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography, KLF, Krüppel-like factors, MS, mass spectrometry, MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid, NHR, nuclear hormone receptor, OsO₄, osmium tetraoxide, PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid, PPAR, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor, SREBP, sterol regulatory element binding protein, TAG, triacylglycerol, TEM, transmission electron microscopy, TLC, thin-layer chromatography, TOR, target of rapamycin

Keywords: Triacylglycerol, Transcriptional regulation, Metabolic regulation, Nutrient sensing, Lipid staining, Caenorhabditis elegans