Interesterified fats and micro RNA-33: implications in macrophage lipid accumulation

• Grant number: 15/03523-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: June 05, 2015
• End date: December 04, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition
• Principal Investigator: Ana Maria Pita Lottenberg
• Grantee: Milessa da Silva Afonso
• Supervisor: Kathryn J. Moore
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: NYU Langone Medical Center, United States

Abstract

High fat diets increase cardiovascular risk by modulating several signaling pathways that underlie atherosclerosis development. The hallmark of the early stage of this process is the foam cell formation, which is a result of the balance between modified LDL uptake and cholesterol efflux in macrophages. Epidemiological, clinical and experimental studies have demonstrated the impact of different fatty acids on lipoprotein metabolism, which contributes to cardiovascular risk. Recently, many experimental investigations have clearly showed the role of different alimentary fatty acids on ABC transporters protein content and activity, which did not share the same result for ABCA1 and ABCG1 mRNA. This suggests that dietary fatty acids can modulate post transcriptional steps associated with foam cell formation. Micro RNAs are emerging as new biomarkers to elucidate intracellular lipid homeostasis, especially miR-33, which act reducing ABC transporters transcriptions, plasma cell membrane proteins involved in the cellular cholesterol efflux. Recent data from our laboratory showed that interesterified fat containing palmitic acid induces atherosclerosis development and inflammatory stress and we are now looking for new mechanisms by which this fat can interfere with reverse cholesterol transport culminating in plaque progression. (AU)