Autotaxin-LPA-LPP3 Axis in Energy Metabolism and Metabolic Disease

Besides serving as a structural membrane component and intermediate of the glycerolipid metabolism, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has a prominent role as a signaling molecule through its binding to LPA receptors at the cell surface. Extracellular LPA is primarily produced from lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) through the activity of secreted lysophospholipase D, autotaxin (ATX). The degradation of extracellular LPA to monoacylglycerol is mediated by lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs) at the cell membrane. This review summarizes and interprets current literature on the role of the ATX-LPA-LPP3 axis in the regulation of energy homeostasis, insulin function, and adiposity at baseline and under conditions of obesity. We also discuss how the ATX-LPA-LPP3 axis influences obesity-related metabolic complications, including insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and cardiomyopathy.

Lipid Phosphate Phosphatases and Cancer

Lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs) are a group of three enzymes (LPP1–3) that belong to a phospholipid phosphatase (PLPP) family. The LPPs dephosphorylate a wide spectrum of bioactive lipid phosphates, among which lysophosphatidate (LPA) and sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) are two important extracellular signaling molecules. The LPPs are integral membrane proteins, which are localized on plasma membranes and intracellular membranes, including the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi network. LPPs regulate signaling transduction in cancer cells and demonstrate different effects in cancer progression through the breakdown of extracellular LPA and S1P and other intracellular substrates. This review is intended to summarize an up-to-date understanding about the functions of LPPs in cancers.

Signalling by lysophosphatidate and its health implications

Extracellular lysophosphatidate (LPA) signalling is regulated by the balance of LPA formation by autotaxin (ATX) versus LPA degradation by lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPP) and by the relative expressions of six G-protein-coupled LPA receptors. These receptors increase cell proliferation, migration, survival and angiogenesis. Acute inflammation produced by tissue damage stimulates ATX production and LPA signalling as a component of wound healing. If inflammation does not resolve, LPA signalling becomes maladaptive in conditions including arthritis, neurologic pain, obesity and cancers. Furthermore, LPA signalling through LPA1 receptors promotes fibrosis in skin, liver, kidneys and lungs. LPA also promotes the spread of tumours to other organs (metastasis) and the pro-survival properties of LPA explain why LPA counteracts the effects of chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy. ATX is secreted in response to radiation-induced DNA damage during cancer treatments and this together with increased LPA1 receptor expression leads to radiation-induced fibrosis. The anti-inflammatory agent, dexamethasone, decreases levels of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines. This is linked to a coordinated decrease in the production of ATX and LPA1/2 receptors and increased LPA degradation through LPP1. These effects explain why dexamethasone attenuates radiation-induced fibrosis. Increased LPA signalling is also associated with cardiovascular disease including atherosclerosis and deranged LPA signalling is associated with pregnancy complications including preeclampsia and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. LPA contributes to chronic inflammation because it stimulates the secretion of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, which increase further ATX production and LPA signalling. Attenuating maladaptive LPA signalling provides a novel means of treating inflammatory diseases that underlie so many important medical conditions.

Hypoxia Downregulates LPP3 and Promotes the Spatial Segregation of ATX and LPP1 During Cancer Cell Invasion

Hypoxia is a common characteristic of advanced solid tumors and a potent driver of tumor invasion and metastasis. Recent evidence suggests the involvement of autotaxin (ATX) and lysophosphatidic acid receptors (LPARs) in cancer cell invasion promoted by the hypoxic tumor microenvironment; however, the transcriptional and/or spatiotemporal control of this process remain unexplored. Herein, we investigated whether hypoxia promotes cell invasion by affecting the main enzymes involved in its production (ATX) and degradation (lipid phosphate phosphatases, LPP1 and LPP3). We report that hypoxia not only modulates the expression levels of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) regulatory enzymes but also induces their significant spatial segregation in a variety of cancers. While LPP3 expression was downregulated by hypoxia, ATX and LPP1 were asymmetrically redistributed to the leading edge and to the trailing edge, respectively. This was associated with the opposing roles of ATX and LPPs in cell invasion. The regulated expression and compartmentalization of these enzymes of opposing function can provide an effective way to control the generation of an LPA gradient that drives cellular invasion and migration in the hypoxic zones of tumors.

Plant Lipolytic Enzymes

The main plant lipolytic enzymes discussed in this chapter are hydrolases that catalyze neutral lipids (non-polar lipids), that is, lipases or those hydrolyzing polar lipids, for example, phospholipases (A, C, and D) as well as those of related field like diacylglycerol kinases, lipoprotein lipases, lipid phosphate phosphatases, and lysophospholipases. This chapter provides generalities regarding some important aspects of plant lipolytic enzymes from either higher plants or algae, such as sources, reactions catalyzed, and specificities. Major issues for purification of plant enzymes with lipolytic activities are highlighted in this overview. New insights into implementation of relevant proteomic and lipidomic techniques to identify and characterize plant lipolytic enzymes with the aid of internet resources are also reviewed in this chapter.

Abstract 203: Regulation of Lipid Phosphate Phosphatase 3 in Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury and Hypertrophy

Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and sudden cardiac death. Mitochondrial respiration is a major source of ROS production and lipids regulate mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and homeostasis through effects on mitochondrial fusion and fission and on the activity of mitochondrial membrane proteins. Lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs) control the conversion of bioactive lipid phosphates to their dephosphorylated counterparts. These include phosphatidic acid (PA), and lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Oxidative stress was identified to transactivate microRNA-92a, which is a negative regulator of LPP3. We found that LPP3 expression was markedly down regulated in ischemic regions after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. We observed a similar trend in the myocardium from patients with acute MI at 24h. Our in vitro studies indicate that overexpression of LPP3 protects the cardiomyocyte against ROS-induced cardiac injury and reduction of LPP3 by conditional specific cardiac knockout of the LPP3 gene in mice increases cardiac dysfunction and mortality. These mice are viable and fertile but showed increased mortality ~8 months (Fig1). Blood pressure was similar in LPP3 fl/fl (96 ± 9 mmHg; n = 19) and Myh6- LPP3 Δ mice (92 ± 7 mmHg; n = 19), although heart rates were significantly higher in Myh6- LPP3 Δ 3 month old mice (642 ± 21 bpm, compared to LPP3 fl/fl with 600± 17 bpm; P<0.001). Knockdown of LPP3 enhanced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by LPA based on analysis of sarcomere organization, cell surface area, levels of fetal genes ANP and BNP, and ANF release from nuclei, which are hallmarks of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, indicating that LPP3 negatively regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by LPA.

Abstract 535: Lipid Phosphate Phosphatase 3: A Novel Mediator of Heart Failure Development and Progression

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive lipid mediator that is found in abundance in atherosclerotic plaques and whose production is accelerated by activated platelets. Two fold rise in serum LPA concentration in acute myocardial infarct patients (6.4±1.3 micro mol/L vs 2.5 ± 1.1 micro mol/L, P = 0.0001) and its effect to cause cardiomyocyte hypertrophy suggests, a critical role for LPA regulation in the myocardium. The actions of local and circulating LPA may be terminated by enzymatic dephosphorylation of the lipid by a family of hexahelical membrane spanning proteins, termed lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPP). Of the three LPP enzymes with preference for LPA, LPP3 appears the most likely to play a biologic role in regulating LPA levels, and deficiency of LPP3 results in embyronic lethality in mice due to vascular and neural tube defects. We have generated mice that specifically lack LPP3 in cardiomyocytes. These mice are viable and fertile but showed increased mortality ~8 months (Fig1). Blood pressure was similar in Ppap2b fl/fl (96 ± 9 mmHg; n = 19) and Myh6-Ppap2b Δ mice (92 ± 7 mmHg; n = 19), although heart rates were significantly higher in Myh6-Ppap2b Δ 3 month old mice (642 ± 21 bpm, compared to Ppap2b fl/fl with 600± 17 bpm; P<0.001). Knockdown of LPP3 enhanced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by LPA based on analysis of sarcomere organization, cell surface area, levels of fetal genes ANP and BNP, and ANF release from nuclei, which are hallmarks of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, indicating that LPP3 negatively regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by LPA.