Biological Functions of Sphingomyelin Synthase Related Protein and Ceramide Synthase 4 Investigated with Transgenic Mouse Mutants
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Biological functions of Sphingomyelin synthase related protein and Ceramide synthase 4 investigated with transgenic mouse mutants Dissertation Zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat.) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn vorgelegt von Andreas Bickert aus Neuwied Bonn, 2016 Angefertigt mit Genehmigung der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Klaus Willecke Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Michael Hoch Tag der Promotion: 25.10.2016 Erscheinungsjahr: 2017 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Biological lipids ............................................................................................ 1 1.2 Eucaryotic membranes ................................................................................ 3 1.3 Sphingolipids ............................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Sphingolipid metabolic pathway ................................................................. 6 1.3.1.1 De novo sphingolipid biosynthesis .......................................................... 8 1.3.1.2 The ceramide transfer protein ................................................................. 8 1.3.1.3 Biosynthesis of complex sphingolipids .................................................... 9 1.3.1.4 Sphingolipid degradation and the salvage pathway .............................. 10 1.3.2 Ceramide synthases ................................................................................ 12 1.3.2.1 Ceramide synthase expression pattern and substrate specificity .......... 14 1.3.2.2 Chain length-specific functions of ceramides ........................................ 15 1.3.2.3 Ceramide synthase deficient mice ........................................................ 17 1.3.2.4 Ceramide synthase 4 ............................................................................ 17 1.3.2.5 Regulation of ceramide synthase activity .............................................. 19 1.3.3 Ceramides in metabolic disease .............................................................. 20 1.3.3.1 Ceramides in the development of obesity and insulin resistance .......... 20 1.3.3.2 Obesity-associated ceramide function in peripheral tissues ................. 21 1.3.3.3 Adipose tissue ....................................................................................... 22 1.3.3.4 Ceramide in the development of diet-induced obesity in mice .............. 24 1.3.3.5 Diet-induced obesity in ceramide synthase deficient mice .................... 25 1.3.4 Sphingomyelin synthase family ................................................................ 27 1.3.4.1 Sphingomyelin synthase 1 and 2 .......................................................... 28 1.3.4.2 Sphingomyelin synthase related protein ............................................... 29 1.4 The mouse as model organism ................................................................. 30 1.4.1 Transgenic mice ....................................................................................... 31 1.4.2 Conditional and non-conditional systems to manipulate gene function .... 31 1.5 Aim of the study......................................................................................... 33 2 Material ....................................................................................................... 34 2.1 Antibodies ................................................................................................. 34 2.2 Primer ........................................................................................................ 34 2.2.1 Primer Real Time-PCR ............................................................................. 36 I Table of Contents 2.3 Southern blot probes ................................................................................. 36 2.4 Bacterial artificial chromosomes ................................................................ 36 2.5 Plasmids .................................................................................................... 37 2.6 Adeno- and lentiviruses ............................................................................. 37 2.7 Primary and immortalized cells ................................................................. 37 2.8 Transgenic mouse lines ............................................................................ 38 2.9 Lipid standards .......................................................................................... 39 2.10 Buffers ....................................................................................................... 40 2.11 Cell culture media ...................................................................................... 40 3 Methods ...................................................................................................... 43 3.1 Nucleic acid analysis ................................................................................. 43 3.1.1 Mouse genotyping .................................................................................... 43 3.1.2 Southern blot analysis .............................................................................. 45 3.1.3 Real Time-PCR analysis .......................................................................... 45 3.2 Protein analysis ......................................................................................... 45 3.2.1 Affinity chromatography of antisera .......................................................... 45 3.2.2 Immunoblot analysis ................................................................................ 46 3.2.3 CPE/SM synthase activity assay .............................................................. 46 3.3 Analysis of PEMT-mediated conversion of CPE in mouse liver ................ 47 3.4 Lipid analysis ............................................................................................. 48 3.4.1 Mass spectrometric analyses (Somerharju group) ................................... 48 3.4.2 Mass spectrometric analyses (Dörmann group) ....................................... 49 3.4.3 Thin layer chromatographic analysis of mouse feces ............................... 50 3.5 Histological analysis .................................................................................. 50 3.5.1 β-galactosidase staining ........................................................................... 50 3.5.2 H&E staining ............................................................................................ 50 3.5.3 Electron microscopy ................................................................................. 51 3.6 Isolation and culture of primary cells ......................................................... 51 3.6.1 Isolation and differentiation of brown preadipocytes ................................ 51 3.6.2 Isolation and differentiation of white preadipocytes .................................. 52 3.7 Physiological activation of energy expenditure in mice ............................. 52 3.8 Feeding experiments ................................................................................. 53 3.8.1 Glucose tolerance test (GTT) ................................................................... 53 3.8.2 Insulin tolerance test (ITT) ........................................................................ 53 3.9 Mouse handling ......................................................................................... 54 3.10 Statistical analyses and image processing ................................................ 54 II Table of Contents 4 Results ....................................................................................................... 55 4.1 Characterization of transgenic mice lacking SMSr catalytic activity .......... 55 4.1.1 SMSrD348E mice ..................................................................................... 55 4.1.2 SMSrdelEx6 mice ..................................................................................... 56 4.1.3 SMSr expression in mice .......................................................................... 58 4.1.3.1 ß-galactosidase staining in SMSrD348E mice ...................................... 58 4.1.3.2 Affinity purification of polyclonal antibodies targeting SMSr .................. 62 4.1.3.3 SMSr tissue-specific expression ........................................................... 62 4.1.3.4 SMSr expression in primary cells .......................................................... 64 4.1.4 Activity and protein expression in SMSrD348E and SMSrdelEx6 mice .... 65 4.1.4.1 CPE synthase activity of mouse SMSr .................................................. 65 4.1.4.2 CPE/SM synthase activity in SMSr and SMS2 mutant mice ................. 67 4.1.4.3 SMSrD348E and SMSrNT-eGFP protein expression ............................. 69 4.1.5 Analysis of sphingolipid content in SMSr and SMS2 mutant mice ........... 69 4.1.5.1 Distribution of CPE and SM in mouse tissues ....................................... 70 4.1.5.2 Impact of SMSr and SMS2 inactivation on tissue CPE and SM levels .. 71 4.1.5.3 Determination of ceramide levels in SMSr and SMS2 mutant mice ...... 76 4.1.6 Ultra-structural analysis of cellular integrity in SMSrD348E mice ............. 81 4.2 Diet-induced obesity in ceramide synthase 4 deficient mice ..................... 84