| First Author | Joyal JS | Year | 2016 |
| Journal | Nat Med | Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 439-45 |
| PubMed ID | 26974308 | Mgi Jnum | J:234821 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5790916 | Doi | 10.1038/nm.4059 |
| Citation | Joyal JS, et al. (2016) Retinal lipid and glucose metabolism dictates angiogenesis through the lipid sensor Ffar1. Nat Med 22(4):439-45 |
| abstractText | Tissues with high metabolic rates often use lipids, as well as glucose, for energy, conferring a survival advantage during feast and famine. Current dogma suggests that high-energy-consuming photoreceptors depend on glucose. Here we show that the retina also uses fatty acid beta-oxidation for energy. Moreover, we identify a lipid sensor, free fatty acid receptor 1 (Ffar1), that curbs glucose uptake when fatty acids are available. Very-low-density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr), which is present in photoreceptors and is expressed in other tissues with a high metabolic rate, facilitates the uptake of triglyceride-derived fatty acid. In the retinas of Vldlr(-/-) mice with low fatty acid uptake but high circulating lipid levels, we found that Ffar1 suppresses expression of the glucose transporter Glut1. Impaired glucose entry into photoreceptors results in a dual (lipid and glucose) fuel shortage and a reduction in the levels of the Krebs cycle intermediate alpha-ketoglutarate (alpha-KG). Low alpha-KG levels promotes stabilization of hypoxia-induced factor 1a (Hif1a) and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor A (Vegfa) by starved Vldlr(-/-) photoreceptors, leading to neovascularization. The aberrant vessels in the Vldlr(-/-) retinas, which invade normally avascular photoreceptors, are reminiscent of the vascular defects in retinal angiomatous proliferation, a subset of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is associated with high vitreous VEGFA levels in humans. Dysregulated lipid and glucose photoreceptor energy metabolism may therefore be a driving force in macular telangiectasia, neovascular AMD and other retinal diseases. |
