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Retinoid and Lipid Metabolism
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1821 (2012) 1–2
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bbalip
Preface
Retinoid and Lipid Metabolism
It was in June 2010 that we were asked by the editorial staff of BBA Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids at the invitation of Executive Editor, Professor Rudolph Zechner, to edit a special issue on “Retinoids.” It was suggested that about 20 high quality reviews be solicited from leaders in the field. Given that a search of PubMed suggests that there are 100–200 review articles published per year on “retinoids”, an obvious question was, “Why more reviews on retinoids?” There are a few answers to this question. One is that BBA Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids is a well-respected international journal in the lipid field and has been publishing a few “special issues” per year on selected topics of wide interest to investigators in the field but had not previously published an issue on retinoids. As a numerically small but biologically important class of lipophilic molecules, it seemed a great opportunity for retinoids to “take their place” among bioactive lipids. A related point is that while many reviews on retinoids focus on their mechanism of action via nuclear receptor activation, the invitation gave us the opportunity to focus on the “lipidness” of retinoids. That is, we could provide a current overview of the chemistry, enzymology, metabolism and transport of retinoids which share both similarities and differences with other important lipids. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly clear that retinoids are importantly involved in lipid homeostasis, adipose cell biology, the metabolic syndrome and insulin sensitivity. Thus, the impact of retinoids on lipid metabolism is an important area of contemporary retinoid research. Finally, recently described new mechanisms of action of retinol, retinoid-binding proteins, and retinoid receptors are likely involved in some of the relationships of retinoids and metabolic disease. It is on these answers to the question of “Why more reviews on retinoids?” that the current special issue is based. The issue is organized into three broad areas although certainly some articles could be classified in more than one of them. We begin with the sometimes neglected area of chemistry and analysis of retinoids. As with other areas of modern lipid research, being able to synthesize, characterize and quantitatively analyze retinoids is crucial to advancing the field and to avoiding potentially catastrophic conceptual problems in interpreting biological results if the wrong compounds are used in experiments or measured by mistake. Although there are unique challenges in retinoid synthesis, some of the issues are common to those of any long chain polyisoprenoid lipids. And it almost goes without saying that the quantitative analysis of retinoids, particularly those that are present physiologically in low concentrations, requires sophisticated liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques currently used in the developing area of lipidomics. A second broad area covered in these reviews focuses on membrane receptors, transporters, 1388-1981/$ – see front matter © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.bbalip.2011.11.007
enzymes, and protein chaperones involved in the absorption, transport, cellular uptake, and metabolism of retinoids and there precursor carotenoids. Again this is an area where retinoids share commonalities with other lipid classes and also have unique aspects. The reviews presented highlight both these similarities and differences. The final group of reviews addresses broadly the area of retinoid effects on lipid metabolism and the function of cells and tissues importantly involved in lipid metabolism. It is in this area that some of the newly described mechanisms of action of retinoids, not related to ligand activation of retinoid receptors, are presented. We were very pleased with the enthusiastic response of the authors invited to prepare the papers in this special issue. In addition to comprehensively reviewing the current literature they have provided stimulating insights and provocative ideas that will serve the development of the retinoid field well. We thank them individually and collectively for their efforts in preparing this issue. Our only regret is that due to necessary space constraints we were not able to invite more of the investigators in this exciting field to share their views. We also thank Professor Rudi Zechner for the invitation to edit this special edition and the editorial staff at Elsevier, particularly Andy Deelen and Sandra Tokashiki for their constant and timely assistance. Finally, we hope that this special issue will introduce new investigators to the exciting retinoid field and provide a convenient source of information for those already working on retinoids. As is evident from the reviews presented, while new ideas are evolving, there are yet many questions that remain. Hopefully, answers to these questions will lead to new advances in basic understanding and to new disease therapies. And hopefully, we have now answered the question, “Why more reviews on retinoids?”
Ouliana Ziouzenkova is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University (OSU), Department of Human Nutrition. After receiving a bachelor's and master's degree from The State University “Schewtchenko”, Kiev, Ukraine in 1986, Dr. Ziouzenkova completed her Ph.D. degree summa cum laude at the University of Graz, Austria in 1997. She performed her post-doctoral studies at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA from 1997 to 1999 and at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Boston, MA from 1999 to 2003. She was an Instructor in Medicine from 2003 to 2007 in the same institution. Dr. Ziouzenkova has been honored with the Louis and Norman Katz Basic Science Award by the American Heart Association in 2002, the Le8rner Young Faculty Award at BWH in 2004, and the New Investigator Award by the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences in 2007. She holds four patents and authors 35 publications. Dr. Ziouzenkova leads a research team fostering innovative approaches in gender-specific anti-obesity therapies that are based on metabolic products of vitamin A.
2
Preface
Earl Harrison received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and master's degree in nutrition at Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University where he worked on vitamin A metabolism in the laboratory of the late Dewitt Goodman. He was a USPHS postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Christian de Duve at Rockefeller University. He was a Professor of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Research Leader at the USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, and is currently Dean's Distinguished Professor of Human Nutrition at The Ohio State University. He has served on the NIH's Nutrition Study Section and the National Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases Advisory Council. His
laboratory works are on the transport, metabolism and function of dietary vitamin A and carotenoids.
Ouliana Ziouzenkova Guest Editor Earl H. Harrison Guest Editor 26 July 2011
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bbalip
Preface
Retinoid and Lipid Metabolism
It was in June 2010 that we were asked by the editorial staff of BBA Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids at the invitation of Executive Editor, Professor Rudolph Zechner, to edit a special issue on “Retinoids.” It was suggested that about 20 high quality reviews be solicited from leaders in the field. Given that a search of PubMed suggests that there are 100–200 review articles published per year on “retinoids”, an obvious question was, “Why more reviews on retinoids?” There are a few answers to this question. One is that BBA Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids is a well-respected international journal in the lipid field and has been publishing a few “special issues” per year on selected topics of wide interest to investigators in the field but had not previously published an issue on retinoids. As a numerically small but biologically important class of lipophilic molecules, it seemed a great opportunity for retinoids to “take their place” among bioactive lipids. A related point is that while many reviews on retinoids focus on their mechanism of action via nuclear receptor activation, the invitation gave us the opportunity to focus on the “lipidness” of retinoids. That is, we could provide a current overview of the chemistry, enzymology, metabolism and transport of retinoids which share both similarities and differences with other important lipids. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly clear that retinoids are importantly involved in lipid homeostasis, adipose cell biology, the metabolic syndrome and insulin sensitivity. Thus, the impact of retinoids on lipid metabolism is an important area of contemporary retinoid research. Finally, recently described new mechanisms of action of retinol, retinoid-binding proteins, and retinoid receptors are likely involved in some of the relationships of retinoids and metabolic disease. It is on these answers to the question of “Why more reviews on retinoids?” that the current special issue is based. The issue is organized into three broad areas although certainly some articles could be classified in more than one of them. We begin with the sometimes neglected area of chemistry and analysis of retinoids. As with other areas of modern lipid research, being able to synthesize, characterize and quantitatively analyze retinoids is crucial to advancing the field and to avoiding potentially catastrophic conceptual problems in interpreting biological results if the wrong compounds are used in experiments or measured by mistake. Although there are unique challenges in retinoid synthesis, some of the issues are common to those of any long chain polyisoprenoid lipids. And it almost goes without saying that the quantitative analysis of retinoids, particularly those that are present physiologically in low concentrations, requires sophisticated liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques currently used in the developing area of lipidomics. A second broad area covered in these reviews focuses on membrane receptors, transporters, 1388-1981/$ – see front matter © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.bbalip.2011.11.007
enzymes, and protein chaperones involved in the absorption, transport, cellular uptake, and metabolism of retinoids and there precursor carotenoids. Again this is an area where retinoids share commonalities with other lipid classes and also have unique aspects. The reviews presented highlight both these similarities and differences. The final group of reviews addresses broadly the area of retinoid effects on lipid metabolism and the function of cells and tissues importantly involved in lipid metabolism. It is in this area that some of the newly described mechanisms of action of retinoids, not related to ligand activation of retinoid receptors, are presented. We were very pleased with the enthusiastic response of the authors invited to prepare the papers in this special issue. In addition to comprehensively reviewing the current literature they have provided stimulating insights and provocative ideas that will serve the development of the retinoid field well. We thank them individually and collectively for their efforts in preparing this issue. Our only regret is that due to necessary space constraints we were not able to invite more of the investigators in this exciting field to share their views. We also thank Professor Rudi Zechner for the invitation to edit this special edition and the editorial staff at Elsevier, particularly Andy Deelen and Sandra Tokashiki for their constant and timely assistance. Finally, we hope that this special issue will introduce new investigators to the exciting retinoid field and provide a convenient source of information for those already working on retinoids. As is evident from the reviews presented, while new ideas are evolving, there are yet many questions that remain. Hopefully, answers to these questions will lead to new advances in basic understanding and to new disease therapies. And hopefully, we have now answered the question, “Why more reviews on retinoids?”
Ouliana Ziouzenkova is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University (OSU), Department of Human Nutrition. After receiving a bachelor's and master's degree from The State University “Schewtchenko”, Kiev, Ukraine in 1986, Dr. Ziouzenkova completed her Ph.D. degree summa cum laude at the University of Graz, Austria in 1997. She performed her post-doctoral studies at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA from 1997 to 1999 and at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Boston, MA from 1999 to 2003. She was an Instructor in Medicine from 2003 to 2007 in the same institution. Dr. Ziouzenkova has been honored with the Louis and Norman Katz Basic Science Award by the American Heart Association in 2002, the Le8rner Young Faculty Award at BWH in 2004, and the New Investigator Award by the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences in 2007. She holds four patents and authors 35 publications. Dr. Ziouzenkova leads a research team fostering innovative approaches in gender-specific anti-obesity therapies that are based on metabolic products of vitamin A.
2
Preface
Earl Harrison received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and master's degree in nutrition at Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University where he worked on vitamin A metabolism in the laboratory of the late Dewitt Goodman. He was a USPHS postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Christian de Duve at Rockefeller University. He was a Professor of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Research Leader at the USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, and is currently Dean's Distinguished Professor of Human Nutrition at The Ohio State University. He has served on the NIH's Nutrition Study Section and the National Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases Advisory Council. His
laboratory works are on the transport, metabolism and function of dietary vitamin A and carotenoids.
Ouliana Ziouzenkova Guest Editor Earl H. Harrison Guest Editor 26 July 2011