Abstract
Objectives
Oxidative stress plays critical roles in the pathogeneses of diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis, but its effect on fat accumulation is still unclear. In this study, we analyzed the role of the well-known antioxidant and a glutathione (GSH) precursor N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in fat accumulation and the expression of obesity-associated proteins.
Methods
We studied the effects of 10 µM NAC on obesity-related protein expression in cultured 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, which are able to differentiate into mature adipocytes and accumulate lipids.
Results
NAC treatment inhibited fat accumulation and reduced the expression of obesity-related proteins, including monoamine oxidase A, heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), aminoacylase -1 (ACY-1), and transketolase.
Discussion
Our results suggest that the effects of NAC on triglycerides (Tgs) and protein expression are correlated. In support of this, we showed that NAC treatment affected both the Tg synthesis pathway and the expression levels of proteins implicated in human obesity.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Grant UBACYT 20020110200187 (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina), OAT 17/11 (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) and, Grant SAF-2009-10461 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Tecnológica, España). Juan Carlos Calvo and Liliana N. Guerra are researched funded by CONICET (Ministerio de Ciencia y Técnica, Argentina) and Universidad de Buenos Aires.