Abstract
Mammalian fatty acid-binding proteins (FABP) are a family of intracellular proteins (approx 15 kDa) that bind long-chain fatty acids (FA) with high affinity. They are believed to serve as cytoplasmic transporters of FA and to target FA to specific cellular sites of utilization. Several different FABPs are expressed in neural tissue, including brain FABP (B-FABP), myelin FABP (M-FABP), and heart FABP (H-FABP). We have previously shown that H-FABP transfers FA via direct collisional interactions with acceptor model membranes. In the present studies, we use a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay to examine the rate and mechanism of transfer of a fluorescent long-chain fatty acid from B-FABP to phospholipid vesicles. The rate of transfer is shown to be independent of buffer ionic strength and dramatically enhanced by the presence of specific anionic phospholipids. These results are consistent with a mechanism by which FA are transferred from B-FABP to phospholipid membranes by a transient collision-based mechanism.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abumrad N. A., Harmon C. M., and Ibrahimi A. (1998) Membrane transport of long-chain fatty acids: evidence for a facilitated process. J. Lipid Res. 39, 2309–2318.
Arnold D., Feng L., Kim J., and Heintz N. (1994) A strategy for the analysis of gene expression during neural development. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 9970–9974.
Banaszak L. J., Winter N., Xu Z., Bernlohr D. A., and Jones T. A. (1994) Lipid-binding proteins: A family of fatty acid and retinoid transport proteins. Adv. Prot. Chem. 145, 90–148.
Bass N. M. (1985) Function and regulation of hepatic and intestinal fatty acid binding proteins. Chem. Phys. Lipids 38, 95–114.
Bass N. M. (1993) Cellular binding proteins for fatty acids and retinoids: similar or specialized functions? Mol. Cell. Biochem. 123, 191–202.
Bennett E., Stenvers K. L., Lund P. K., and Popko B. (1994) Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a novel fatty acid binding protein from rat brain. J. Neurochem. 63, 1616–1624.
Bradford M. (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitiation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal. Biochem. 72, 248–254.
Charlton S. C. and Smith L. C. (1982) Kinetics of transfer of pyrene and rac-1-oleyl-2-[4-(3-pyrenyl)butanoyl] glycerol between human plasma lipoproteins. Biochemistry 21, 4023–4030.
Coe N. R. and Bernlohr D. A. (1998) Physiological properties and functions of intracellular fatty acid-binding proteins. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1391, 287–306.
Feng L., Hatten M. E., and Heintz N. (1994) Brain lipid binding protein (BLBP): a novel signaling system in the developing mammalian CNS. Neuron 12, 895–908.
Glatz J. F. and Van der vusse G. J. (1996) Cellular fatty acid-binding proteins: their function and physiological significance. Prog. Lipid Res. 35, 243–282.
Glatz J. F. and Veerkamp J. H. (1983) A radiochemical procedure for the assay of fatty acid binding by proteins. Anal. Biochem. 132, 89–95.
Gomori G. (1942) A modification of the colorimetric phosphorous determination for use with the photoelectric colorimeter. J. Lab. Clin. Med. 27, 955–960.
Hamilton J. A. (1998) Fatty acid transport: difficult or easy? J. Lipid Res. 39, 467–481.
Herr F. M., Matarese V., Bernlohr D. A., and Storch J. (1995) Surface lysine residues modulate the collisional transfer of fatty acid from adipocyte fatty acid binding protein to membranes. Biochemistry 34, 11,840–11,845.
Herr F. M., Aronson J., and Storch J. (1996) Role of portal region lysine residues in electrostatic interactions between heart fatty acid binding protein and phospholipid membranes. Biochemistry 35, 1296–1303.
Hsu K. T. and Storch J. (1996) Fatty acid transfer from liver and intestinal fatty acid-binding proteins to membranes occurs by different mechanisms. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 13,317–13,323.
Huang C. and Thompson T. E. (1974) Preparation of homogeneous, single-walled phosphatidylcholine vesicles. Methods Enzymol. 32, 485–489.
Kim H. K. and Storch J. (1992a) Mechanism of free fatty acid transfer from rat heart fatty acid-binding protein to phospholipid membranes. Evidence for a collisional process. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 20,051–20,056.
Kim H. K. and Storch J. (1992b) Free fatty acid transfer from rat liver fatty acid-binding protein to phospholipid vesicles. Effect of ligand and solution properties. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 77–82.
Kurtz A., Zimmer A., Schnutgen F., Bruning G., Spener F., and Muller T. (1994) The expression pattern of a novel gene encoding brain fatty acid binding protein correlates with neural and glial cell development. Development 120, 2637–2649.
Laemmli U. K. (1970) Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 227, 680–685.
Lees M. B. and Brostoff S. W. (1984) Proteins of myelin, in Myelin (Morell, P. ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 197–224.
Maniatis T., Fritsch E. F., and Sambrook J. F. (1982) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
MyersPayne S. C., Hubbell T., Pu L. X., Schnutgen F., Borchers T., Wood W. G., Spener F., and Schroeder F. (1996) Isolation and characterization of two fatty acid binding proteins from mouse brain. J. Neurochem. 66, 1648–1656.
Narayanan V., Kaestner K. H., and Tennekoon G. (1991) Structure of the mouse myelin P2 protein gene. J. Neurochem. 57, 75–80.
Owada Y., Yoshimoto T., and Kondo H. (1996) Spatiotemporally differential expression of genes for three members of fatty acid binding proteins in developing and mature rat brains. J. Chem. Neuroanat. 12, 113–122.
Sacchettini J. C. and Gordon J. I. (1993) Rat intestinal fatty acid binding protein. A model system for analyzing the forces that can bind fatty acids to proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 18,399–18,402.
Schnutgen F., Borchers T., Muller T., and Spener F. (1996) Heterologous expression and characterisation of mouse brain fatty acid binding protein. Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler 377, 211–215.
Sellner P. A., Chu W. J., Glatz J. F., and Berman N. E. J. (1995) Developmental role of fatty acid-binding proteins in mouse brain. Dev. Brain Res. 89, 33–46.
Smith E. R. and Storch J. (1999) The adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein binds to membranes by electrostatic interactions. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 35,325–35,330.
Storch J., Herr F. M., Hsu K. T., Kim H. K., Liou H. L., and Smith E. R. (1996) The role of membranes and intracellular binding proteins in cytoplasmic transport of hydrophobic molecules: Fatty acid-binding proteins. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 115, 333–339.
Storch J. and Bass N. M. (1990) Transfer of fluorescent fatty acids from liver and heart fatty acid-binding proteins to model membranes. J. Biol. Chem. 265, 7827–7831.
Storch J. and Kleinfeld A. M. (1986) Transfer of long-chain fluorescent free fatty acids between unilamellar vesicles. Biochemistry 25, 1717–1726.
Storch J. and Thumser A. E. (2000) The fatty acid transport function of fatty acid binding proteins. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1486, 28–44.
Thumser A. E. and Storch J. (2000) Liver and intestinal fatty acid-binding proteins obtain fatty acids from phospholipid membranes by different mechanisms. J. Lipid Res. 41, 647–656.
Trapp B. D., Dubois Dalcq M., and Quarles R. H. (1984) Ultrastructural localization of P2 protein in actively myelinating rat Schwann cells. J. Neurochem. 43, 944–948.
Veerkamp J. H., Paulussen R. J. A., Peeters R. A., Maatman R. G. H. J., van Moerkerk H. T. B., and van Kuppevelt T. H. (1990) Detection, tissue distribution and (sub)cellular localization of fatty acid-binding protein types. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 98, 11–18.
Veerkamp J. H. and Maatman R. G. H. J. (1995) Cytoplasmic fatty acid-binding proteins: their structure and genes. Prog. Lipid Res. 34, 17–52.
Weise M. J. and Brostoff S. W. (1985) Research methods in studies with the P2 basic protein, in Research Methods in Neurochemistry (Marks, N. and Rodnight, R. ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 263–302.
Wootan M. G., Bernlohr D. A., and Storch J. (1993) Mechanism of fluorescent fatty acid transfer from adipocyte fatty acid binding protein to membranes. Biochemistry 32, 8622–8627.
Wootan M. G. and Storch J. (1994) Regulation of fluorescent fatty acid transfer from adipocyte and heart fatty acid binding proteins by acceptor membrane lipid composition and structure. J. Biol. Chem. 269, 10,517–10,523.
Xu L. Z., Sanchez R., Sali A., and Heintz N. (1996) Ligand specificity of brain lipid binding protein. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 24,711–24,719.
Zhang F., Kamp F., and Hamilton J. A. (1996) Dissociation of long and very long chain fatty acids from phospholipid bilayers. Biochemistry 35, 16,055–16,060.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thumser, A.E.A., Tsai, J. & Storch, J. Collision-mediated transfer of long-chain fatty acids by neural tissue fatty acid-binding proteins (FABP). J Mol Neurosci 16, 143–150 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1385/JMN:16:2-3:143
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/JMN:16:2-3:143