Molecular mechanism of intracellular lipid accumulation: Suppressive effect of PycnogenolR in liver cells | Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer Open Menu Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Home Food Science Publisher Functional Food Center Current Archives About About the Journal Aims and Scope Contact Editing Services Editorial Team Express Peer Review Graphical Abstract Journal Insights Privacy Statement Submissions Announcements Search Search Register Login Home / Archives / Vol. 3 No. 9 (2013): September 2013 / Review Articles Molecular mechanism of intracellular lipid accumulation: Suppressive effect of PycnogenolR in liver cells Authors Shoichiro Ikuyama Department of Metabolism, Hematology and Rheumatic Diseases (DMHRDs), Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Beppu 874-0838 Bin Fan Department of Metabolism, Hematology and Rheumatic Diseases (DMHRDs), Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Beppu 874-0838 Jian-Qiu Gu Department of Metabolism, Hematology and Rheumatic Diseases (DMHRDs), Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Beppu 874-0838 Kumiko Mukae Department of Metabolism, Hematology and Rheumatic Diseases (DMHRDs), Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Beppu 874-0838 Hideyuki Watanabe Department of Metabolism, Hematology and Rheumatic Diseases (DMHRDs), Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, Beppu 874-0838 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v3i9.40 Abstract Cells are physiologically ready to accumulate lipids such as triacylglycerides in the cytoplasm. Five classes of perilipin (PLIN) family proteins are known to be involved in the process of intracellular lipid accumulation. PLIN2 is expressed ubiquitously including adipocytes, hepatocytes and macrophages. Over-expression of PLIN2 is demonstrated in the lesions of fatty liver diseases and atherosclerosis. Suppression of PLIN2 expression prevents from developing these pathological conditions in animal models, suggesting that PLIN2 could be a therapeutic target molecule for excessive intracellular lipid accumulation which leads to various metabolic derangements. The PLIN2 gene promoter has two important cis-acting elements in close proximity:AP-1 element which mediates inflammatory signals and PPRE which mediates free fatty acid effect. In NMuLi mouse liver cells, FFA such as oleic acid requires both functional AP-1 and PPRE simultaneously to stimulate the promoter activity, indicating the presence of intimate interaction of inflammatory and metabolic signals on this gene. PycnogenolR, French maritime pine bark extracts, suppressed the oleic acid-induced PLIN2 expression and lipid accumulation in NMuLi cells. We found that PycnogenolR did not suppress the PLIN2 promoter activity or AP-1 binding to DNA. Instead, PycnogenolR facilitates the PLIN2 mRNA degradation, leading to suppression of lipid accumulation. This effect seems to be independent of antioxidant effect of PycnogenolR. We raise the idea that PLIN2 is a putative target molecule for prevention of pathological condition induced by excessive lipid accumulation, and this class of natural compounds could be putative therapeutic modalities. Key words: PycnogenolR, lipid droplet, perilipin, fatty liver disease Downloads [Abstract] [Full Article] Published 2013-09-30 Issue Vol. 3 No. 9 (2013): September 2013 Section Review Articles License Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged. By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained. About the Journal      Editing Services      Graphical Abstract      Journal Insights        Submissions        Editorial Team       Privacy Statement        Contact        Current        Archives   Open Journal Systems Hosting and Support by: OpenJournalSystems.com