Abstract

HIV patients develop hepatic steatosis. We investigated hepatic steatosis in transgenic mice expressing the HIV-1 accessory protein Vpr (Vpr-Tg) in liver and adipose tissues, and WT mice infused with synthetic Vpr. Vpr-Tg mice developed increased liver triglyceride content and elevated ALT, bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase due to three hepatic defects: 1.6-fold accelerated de novo lipogenesis (DNL), 45% slower fatty acid ß-oxidation, and 40% decreased VLDL-triglyceride export. Accelerated hepatic DNL was due to coactivation by Vpr of liver X receptor-α (LXRα) with increased expression of its lipogenic targets Srebp1c, Chrebp, Lpk, Dgat, Fasn and Scd1, and intranuclear SREBP1c and ChREBP. Vpr enhanced association of LXRα with Lxrα and Srebp1c promoters, increased LXRE-LXRα binding, and broadly altered hepatic expression of LXRα-regulated lipid metabolic genes. Diminished hepatic fatty acid ß-oxidation was associated with decreased mRNA expression of Pparα and its targets Cpt1, Aox, Lcad, Ehhadh, Hsd10 and Acaa2, and blunted VLDL export with decreased expression of Mttp and its product microsomal triglyceride transfer protein. With our previous findings that Vpr circulates in HIV patients (including those with undetectable plasma HIV-1 RNA), co-regulates the glucocorticoid receptor and PPARγ and transduces hepatocytes, these data indicate a potential role for Vpr in HIV-associated fatty liver disease.

Details

Title
HIV-1 viral protein R (Vpr) induces fatty liver in mice via LXRα and PPARα dysregulation: implications for HIV-specific pathogenesis of NAFLD
Author
Agarwal, Neeti 1 ; Iyer, Dinakar 2 ; Gabbi, Chiara 3 ; Saha, Pradip 1 ; Patel, Sanjeet G 4 ; Mo, Qianxing 5 ; Chang, Benny 1 ; Goswami, Biman 1 ; Schubert, Ulrich 6 ; Kopp, Jeffrey B 7 ; Lewis, Dorothy E 8 ; Balasubramanyam, Ashok 9 

 Translational Metabolism Unit, Diabetes Research Center, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA 
 Translational Metabolism Unit, Diabetes Research Center, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA 
 University of Houston, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Houston, TX, USA 
 Department of Surgery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
 Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA 
 Institute of Virology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany 
 Kidney Disease Section, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA 
 Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, TX, USA 
 Translational Metabolism Unit, Diabetes Research Center, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Endocrine Service, Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston, TX, USA 
Pages
1-15
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Oct 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2120716972
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.