Yan, Y., Wang, H., Hu, M., Jiang, L., Wang, Y., Liu, P., Liang, X., Liu, J., Li, C., Lindström-Battle, A., Lam, S.M., Shui, G., Deng, W.M., Jiao, R. (2017). HDAC6 Suppresses Age-Dependent Ectopic Fat Accumulation by Maintaining the Proteostasis of PLIN2 in Drosophila.  Dev. Cell 43(1): 99--111.e5.

FBrf0236910

Research paper

Age-dependent ectopic fat accumulation (EFA) in animals contributes to the progression of tissue aging and diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. However, the primary causes of age-dependent EFA remain largely elusive. Here, we characterize the occurrence of age-dependent EFA in Drosophila and identify HDAC6, a cytosolic histone deacetylase, as a suppressor of EFA. Loss of HDAC6 leads to significant age-dependent EFA, lipid composition imbalance, and reduced animal longevity on a high-fat diet. The EFA and longevity phenotypes are ameliorated by a reduction of the lipid-droplet-resident protein PLIN2. We show that HDAC6 is associated physically with the chaperone protein dHsc4/Hsc70 to maintain the proteostasis of PLIN2. These findings indicate that proteostasis collapse serves as an intrinsic cue to cause age-dependent EFA. Our study suggests that manipulation of proteostasis could be an alternative approach to the treatment of age-related metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.