Polyunsaturated fatty acids suppress glycolytic and lipogenic genes through the inhibition of ChREBP nuclear protein translocation.

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are potent inhibitors of hepatic glycolysis and lipogenesis. Recently, carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) was implicated in the regulation by glucose of glycolytic and lipogenic genes, including those encoding L-pyruvate kinase (L-PK) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). The aim of our study was to assess the role of ChREBP in the control of L-PK and FAS gene expression by PUFAs. We demonstrated in mice, both in vivo and in vitro, that PUFAs [linoleate (C18:2), eicosapentanoic acid (C20:5), and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6)] suppressed ChREBP activity by increasing ChREBP mRNA decay and by altering ChREBP translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus, independently of an activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase, previously shown to regulate ChREBP activity. In contrast, saturated [stearate (C18)] and monounsaturated fatty acids [oleate (C18:1)] had no effect. Since glucose metabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway is determinant for ChREBP nuclear translocation, the decrease in xylulose 5-phosphate concentrations caused by a PUFA diet favors a PUFA-mediated inhibition of ChREBP translocation. In addition, overexpression of a constitutive nuclear ChREBP isoform in cultured hepatocytes significantly reduced the PUFA inhibition of both L-PK and FAS gene expression. Our results demonstrate that the suppressive effect of PUFAs on these genes is primarily caused by an alteration of ChREBP nuclear translocation. In conclusion, we describe a novel mechanism to explain the inhibitory effect of PUFAs on the genes encoding L-PK and FAS and demonstrate that ChREBP is a pivotal transcription factor responsible for coordinating the PUFA suppression of glycolytic and lipogenic genes.