Mouse Hepatic Lipid Droplet Proteome under Fasting and Re-Feeding

One of the key functions of the mammalian liver is lipid metabolism. During fasting, lipid storage in the liver increases in order to reserve and provide energy for cellular functions. Upon re-feeding, this reserve of lipids is rapidly depleted; this change is visible, as the organelles responsible for lipid storage – lipid droplets (LDs) – drastically decrease in size following re-feeding. Little is known regarding LD proteome, or how it changes during the fasting/re-feeding transition. Our study investigated the hepatic LD proteome and how it changes between fasting and re-feeding conditions. For this purpose, LDs were isolated from 4 month-old C57BL/6 mice after a 24 hour fasting period, or a 24 hour fasting period followed by 6 hours of re-feeding. Proteins isolated from these LDs were subject to SDS-PAGE followed by in-gel trypsinization and LC-MS/MS. We identified a combined total of 941 proteins on hepatic LDs, of which 817 had quantifiable extracted ion chromatograms in at least 2 samples (n=6 total) and were not deemed contaminants. 777 of the 817 proteins were observed in both energetic states, with 33 being uniquely observed in fasted LDs, and 7 being uniquely observed in re-fed LDs.