Insulin signaling couples growth and early maturation to cholesterol intake in Drosophila.

Nutrition is one of the most important influences on growth and the timing of maturational transitions including mammalian puberty and insect metamorphosis. Childhood obesity is associated with precocious puberty, but the assessment mechanism that links body fat to early maturation is unknown. During development, the intake of nutrients promotes signaling through insulin-like systems that govern the growth of cells and tissues and also regulates the timely production of the steroid hormones that initiate the juvenile-adult transition. We show here that the dietary lipid cholesterol, which is required as a component of cell membranes and as a substrate for steroid biosynthesis, also governs body growth and maturation in Drosophila via promoting the expression and release of insulin-like peptides. This nutritional input acts via the nutrient sensor TOR, which is regulated by the Niemann-Pick-type-C 1 (Npc1) cholesterol transporter, in the glia of the blood-brain barrier and cells of the adipose tissue to remotely drive systemic insulin signaling and body growth. Furthermore, increasing intracellular cholesterol levels in the steroid-producing prothoracic gland strongly promotes endoreduplication, leading to an accelerated attainment of a nutritional checkpoint that normally ensures that animals do not initiate maturation prematurely. These findings, therefore, show that a Npc1-TOR signaling system couples the sensing of the lipid cholesterol with cellular and systemic growth control and maturational timing, which may help explain both the link between cholesterol and cancer as well as the connection between body fat (obesity) and early puberty.

The gut hormone Allatostatin C/Somatostatin regulates food intake and metabolic homeostasis under nutrient stress.

The intestine is a central regulator of metabolic homeostasis. Dietary inputs are absorbed through the gut, which senses their nutritional value and relays hormonal information to other organs to coordinate systemic energy balance. However, the gut-derived hormones affecting metabolic and behavioral responses are poorly defined. Here we show that the endocrine cells of the Drosophila gut sense nutrient stress through a mechanism that involves the TOR pathway and in response secrete the peptide hormone allatostatin C, a Drosophila somatostatin homolog. Gut-derived allatostatin C induces secretion of glucagon-like adipokinetic hormone to coordinate food intake and energy mobilization. Loss of gut Allatostatin C or its receptor in the adipokinetic-hormone-producing cells impairs lipid and sugar mobilization during fasting, leading to hypoglycemia. Our findings illustrate a nutrient-responsive endocrine mechanism that maintains energy homeostasis under nutrient-stress conditions, a function that is essential to health and whose failure can lead to metabolic disorders.

Reconstitution and Electrophysiological Characterization of Ion Channels in Lipid Bilayers.

Detergent-solubilized purified ion channels can be reconstituted into lipid bilayers for electrophysiological analysis. Traditionally, ion channels were inserted into vesicles and subsequently fused with planar "black lipid membranes" formed from lipids dissolved in a hydrophobic solvent such as decane. Provided in this article is a step-by-step guide to reconstitute purified ion channel proteins into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). This procedure results in the formation of proteoliposomes that can be used for planar bilayer formation and electrophysiological characterization of single-channel currents. By using preformed GUVs it is possible to omit the membrane solvent. Compared to traditional preparations, the lipid bilayers formed from GUVs provide an environment that more closely resembles the native cell membrane. Also described is an alternate protocol that entails the production of planar lipid bilayers from GUVs onto which proteins in detergent are added. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.