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Zhou Lab

Glia-derived secretory fatty acid binding protein Obp44a regulates lipid storage and efflux in the developing brain

AUTHORS

Yin JJun , Chen HLHsueh-Ling , Grigsby-Brown AAnna , He YYi , Cotten MLMyriam L , Short JJacob , Dermady AAidan , Lei JJingce , Gibbs MMary , Cheng ESEthan S , Zhang DDean , Long CCaixia , Xu LLele , Zhong TTiffany , Abzalimov RRinat , Haider MMariam , Sun RRong , He YYe , Zhou QQiangjun , Tjandra NNico , Yuan QQuan . bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2024 4 11; ().

ABSTRACT

Glia derived secretory factors play diverse roles in supporting the development, physiology, and stress responses of the central nervous system (CNS). Through transcriptomics and imaging analyses, we have identified Obp44a as one of the most abundantly produced secretory proteins from CNS glia. Protein structure homology modeling and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments reveal Obp44a as a fatty acid binding protein (FABP) with a high affinity towards long-chain fatty acids in both native and oxidized forms. Further analyses demonstrate that Obp44a effectively infiltrates the neuropil, traffics between neuron and glia, and is secreted into hemolymph, acting as a lipid chaperone and scavenger to regulate lipid and redox homeostasis in the developing brain. In agreement with this essential role, deficiency of Obp44a leads to anatomical and behavioral deficits in adult animals and elevated oxidized lipid levels. Collectively, our findings unveil the crucial involvement of a noncanonical lipid chaperone to shuttle fatty acids within and outside the brain, as needed to maintain a healthy brain lipid environment. These findings could inspire the design of novel approaches to restore lipid homeostasis that is dysregulated in CNS diseases.

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