Copper deficiency has emerged to be associated with various lipid metabolism diseases, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the mechanisms that dictate the association between cop-per deficiency and metabolic diseases remain obscure. Here, we reveal that copper restoration caused by hepatic ceruloplasmin (Cp) ablation enhances lipid catabolism by promoting the assembly of copper-load SCO1-LKB1-AMPK complex. Overnutrition-mediated Cp elevation results in hepatic copper loss, whereas Cp ablation restores copper content to the normal level without eliciting detectable hepatotoxicity and ame-liorates NAFLD in mice. Mechanistically, SCO1 constitutively interacts with LKB1 even in the absence of copper, and copper-loaded SCO1 directly tethers LKB1 to AMPK, thereby activating AMPK and conse-quently promoting mitochondrial biogenesis and fatty acid oxidation. Therefore, this study reveals a mech-anism by which copper, as a signaling molecule, improves hepatic lipid catabolism, and it indicates that targeting copper-SCO1-AMPK signaling pathway ameliorates NAFLD development by modulating AMPK activity.
基金:
National Key RAMP;D Program of China [2021YFA0804800, 2018YFA0800600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China, China [91857111, 82170863, 81702792, 82130020, 82072646, 8213000134]; Innovative research team of high-level local universities in Shanghai [SHSMU-ZDCX20212501]; Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology [20410713200, 21S11909000]; National Facility for Translational Medicine (Shanghai) [TMSK-2020-102]; Shanghai Education Development Foundation; Shanghai Municipal Education Commission [20SG10]; Shanghai Rising-Star Program [21QA1407000]; Lingang Laboratory [LG-QS-202205-06]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [82103389]; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2021M692125, 2021M702168]; China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents [BX2021191]; Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital [ynqn202104]