The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases

C. elegans is a model used to study cholesterol metabolism and the functions of its metabolites. Several studies have reported that, in worms, cholesterol is not a structural component of the membrane as it is in vertebrates. However, as in other animals, it is used for the synthesis of steroid horm...

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Main Authors: Liu, Ju-Ling, Hekimi, Siegfried
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Landes Bioscience 2013
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670457/
id pubmed-3670457
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-36704572013-09-19 The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases Liu, Ju-Ling Hekimi, Siegfried Commentary C. elegans is a model used to study cholesterol metabolism and the functions of its metabolites. Several studies have reported that, in worms, cholesterol is not a structural component of the membrane as it is in vertebrates. However, as in other animals, it is used for the synthesis of steroid hormones that regulate physiological processes such as dauer formation, molting and defecation. After cholesterol is taken up by the gut, mechanisms of transport of cholesterol between tissues in C. elegans involve lipoproteins, as in mammals. A recent study shows that both cholesterol uptake and lipoprotein metabolism in C. elegans are regulated by molecules whose activities, biosynthesis, and secretion strongly resemble those of mammalian bile acids, which are metabolites of cholesterol that act on metabolism in a variety of ways. Importantly, it was found that oxidative stress upsets the regulation of the synthesis of these molecules. Given the known function of mammalian bile acids as metabolic regulators of lipid and glucose homeostasis, future investigations of the biology of C. elegans bile acid-like molecules could provide information on the etiology of human metabolic disorders that are characterized by elevated oxidative stress. Landes Bioscience 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 /pmc/articles/PMC3670457/ /pubmed/24058856 http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/worm.21457 Text en Copyright © 2013 Landes Bioscience http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This is an open-access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. The article may be redistributed, reproduced, and reused for non-commercial purposes, provided the original source is properly cited.
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Liu, Ju-Ling
Hekimi, Siegfried
spellingShingle Liu, Ju-Ling
Hekimi, Siegfried
The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
author_facet Liu, Ju-Ling
Hekimi, Siegfried
author_sort Liu, Ju-Ling
title The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
title_short The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
title_full The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
title_fullStr The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
title_full_unstemmed The impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in C. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
title_sort impact of mitochondrial oxidative stress on bile acid-like molecules in c. elegans provides a new perspective on human metabolic diseases
description C. elegans is a model used to study cholesterol metabolism and the functions of its metabolites. Several studies have reported that, in worms, cholesterol is not a structural component of the membrane as it is in vertebrates. However, as in other animals, it is used for the synthesis of steroid hormones that regulate physiological processes such as dauer formation, molting and defecation. After cholesterol is taken up by the gut, mechanisms of transport of cholesterol between tissues in C. elegans involve lipoproteins, as in mammals. A recent study shows that both cholesterol uptake and lipoprotein metabolism in C. elegans are regulated by molecules whose activities, biosynthesis, and secretion strongly resemble those of mammalian bile acids, which are metabolites of cholesterol that act on metabolism in a variety of ways. Importantly, it was found that oxidative stress upsets the regulation of the synthesis of these molecules. Given the known function of mammalian bile acids as metabolic regulators of lipid and glucose homeostasis, future investigations of the biology of C. elegans bile acid-like molecules could provide information on the etiology of human metabolic disorders that are characterized by elevated oxidative stress.
publisher Landes Bioscience
publishDate 2013
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670457/
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