Mice and humans lacking caveolae due to gene knock-out or inactivating mutations of cavin-1/PTRF have numerous pathologies including markedly aberrant fuel metabolism, lipodystrophy, and muscular dystrophy. We characterized the physiologic/metabolic profile of cavin-1 knock-out mice and determined that they were lean because of reduced white adipose depots. The knock-out mice were resistant to diet-induced obesity and had abnormal lipid metabolism in the major metabolic organs of white and brown fat and liver. Epididymal white fat cells from cavin-1-null mice were small and insensitive to insulin and β-adrenergic agonists resulting in reduced adipocyte lipid storage and impaired lipid tolerance. At the molecular level, the lipolytic defects in white fat were caused by impaired perilipin phosphorylation, and the reduced triglyceride accumulation was caused by decreased fatty acid uptake and incorporation as well as the virtual absence of insulin-stimulated glucose transport. The livers of cavin-1-null mice were mildly steatotic and did not accumulate more lipid after high-fat feeding. The brown adipose tissues of cavin-1-null mice exhibited decreased mitochondria protein expression, which was restored upon high fat feeding. Taken together, these data suggest that dysfunction in fat, muscle, and liver metabolism in cavin-1-null mice causes a pleiotropic phenotype, one apparently identical to that of humans lacking caveolae in all tissues.
Keywords: Adipocyte; Caveolae; Lipodystrophy; Lipolysis; Triacylglycerol.