昆虫糖脂代谢研究进展

Research advances in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in insects

肥胖症和糖尿病的日趋流行已经成为世界范围内的公共健康问题,其病因主要在于体内血糖/血脂含量升高引起的能量代谢紊乱。大量的证据表明,昆虫可以作为研究人类代谢疾病的理想模型,它不仅能合成与哺乳动物同源的糖脂代谢相关激素(如胰岛素样肽和脂动激素),而且还具有进化保守的代谢信号通路(如雷帕霉素靶蛋白信号通路)及相关器官与组织(如中肠和脂肪体)。本文主要介绍了昆虫糖脂代谢的过程与调控机制,重点涉及脂肪体和绛色细胞的生理功能、胰岛素样肽/脂动激素对血糖的拮抗调节、参与营养物质代谢的胰岛素-胰岛素样生长因子信号通路以及与类固醇激素合成相关的胆固醇代谢等内容,并结合最新研究成果对黑腹果蝇Drosophila melanogaster糖脂代谢相关基因及其功能进行了总结,以期为昆虫生理学和人类代谢疾病研究提供参考。

The emerging epidemics of obesity and diabetes have been recognized as major public health problems worldwide,and the primary etiology is an elevation of blood glucose and lipid levels resulting from an imbalance in energy availability and expenditure. Numerous reports have underscored that insects can be used as in vivo model organisms for human metabolic disorders, such as identification of evolutionarily conserved hormones（ such as insulin-like peptide and adipokinetic hormone）,signaling networks（ such as target of rapamycin signaling pathway）,and analogous organs or tissues（ such as midgut and fat body） that regulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in arthropods and mammals. Here,we reviewed the regulatory mechanism of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in insects,which involves the physiological function of the fat body and oenocytes,the antagonism between insulin-like peptide and adipokinetic hormone on hemolymph glucose regulation, the insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway（ IIS） participated in nutrient metabolism and the cholesterol metabolism associated with steroid hormone synthesis,and also summarized the recent findings on Drosophila genes related with carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. This review will provide reference information for insect physiology and contribute to a better understanding of human metabolic disorders.