Neuroendocrine control of lipid metabolism: lessons from C. elegans

Abstract

This review article highlights our efforts to decode the role of the nervous system in regulating intestinal lipid metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans. Capitalizing on the prescient and pioneering work of Sydney Brenner and John Sulston in establishing C. elegans as an immensely valuable model system, we have uncovered critical roles for oxygen sensing, population density sensing and food sensing in orchestrating the balance between storing lipids and utilizing them for energy in the intestine, the major organ for lipid metabolism in this model system. Our long-term goal is to reveal the integrative mechanisms and regulatory logic that underlies the complex relationship between genes, environment and internal state in the regulation of energy and whole-body physiology.

Keywords:

• intestinal lipid metabolism
• neuroendocrine signaling
• ATGL
• sensory neurons

Acknowledgments

I thank all current and previous members of the Srinivasan Laboratory for their dedication and sincere efforts to uncover the biology of body fat metabolism using the C. elegans model system. Work discussed in this review was funded by the NIH, and I am thankful for their support in this endeavor. We also thank the CGC, from whom we have requested many C. elegans strains.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).