Metabolic disorders, including obesity and insulin resistance, have their basis in dysregulated lipid metabolism and low-grade inflammation. In a microarray search of unique lipase-related genes whose expressions are associated with obesity, we found that two secreted phospholipase A2s (sPLA2s), PLA2G5 and PLA2G2E, were robustly induced in adipocytes of obese mice. Analyses of Pla2g5(-/-) and Pla2g2e(-/-) mice revealed distinct roles of these sPLA2s in diet-induced obesity. PLA2G5 hydrolyzed phosphatidylcholine in fat-overladen low-density lipoprotein to release unsaturated fatty acids, which prevented palmitate-induced M1 macrophage polarization. As such, PLA2G5 tipped the immune balance toward an M2 state, thereby counteracting adipose tissue inflammation, insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. PLA2G2E altered minor lipoprotein phospholipids, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine, and moderately facilitated lipid accumulation in adipose tissue and liver. Collectively, the identification of "metabolic sPLA2s" adds this gene family to a growing list of lipolytic enzymes that act as metabolic coordinators.

Osteoclasts, responsible for bone resorption, are multinucleated cells formed by cell-cell fusion of mononuclear pre-osteoclasts. Although osteoclast fusion is a pivotal step for osteoclastogenesis, little is known about the mechanism involved. To clarify the underlying process, we investigated dynamics of membrane phospholipids during osteoclastogenesis in vitro. We found that the cellular content of phospholipids, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in particular, was increased during osteoclast differentiation. Furthermore, PE was greatly increased in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane bilayer during osteoclastogenesis, being concentrated in filopodia involved in cell-cell fusion. Immobilisation of the cell surface PE blocked osteoclast fusion, revealing the importance of PE abundance and distribution. To identify the molecules responsible for these PE dynamics, we screened a wide array of lipid-related genes by quantitative PCR and shRNA-mediated knockdown. Among them, a PE-biosynthetic enzyme, acyl-CoA:lysophosphatidylethanolamine acyltransferase 2 (LPEAT2), and two ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, ABCB4 and ABCG1, were markedly increased during osteoclastogenesis, and their knockdown in pre-osteoclasts led to reduction in PE exposure on the cell surface and subsequent osteoclast fusion. These findings demonstrate that the PE dynamics play an essential role in osteoclast fusion, in which LPEAT2, ABCB4 and ABCG1 are key players for PE biosynthesis and redistribution.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) confer health benefits by preventing inflammation and obesity and by increasing thermogenesis in brown and beige adipocytes. As well as being supplied exogenously as nutrients, PUFAs are largely stored in membrane glycerophospholipids and released by phospholipase A2s (PLA2s). However, the molecular identity of the PLA2 subtype(s) that supplies endogenous PUFAs for metabolic homeostasis remains unclear. Here we show that PLA2G2D, a secreted PLA2 isoform, is constitutively expressed in M2-type macrophages in white adipose tissue (WAT) and shows a reciprocal correlation with obesity. Studies using global and macrophage-specific Pla2g2d-deficient mice reveal that PLA2G2D increases energy expenditure and thermogenesis by facilitating adipocyte browning, thereby ameliorating diet-induced obesity, insulin resistance, and WAT inflammation. Mechanistically, PLA2G2D constitutively supplies a pool of PUFAs, ω3 in particular, in WAT. Thus, our present findings underscore the contribution of the macrophage-driven PLA2G2D-ω3 PUFA axis to metabolic health.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes act as intercellular communicators by transferring protein and microRNA cargoes, yet the role of EV lipids remains unclear. Here, we show that the pro-tumorigenic action of lymphoma-derived EVs is augmented via secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2)-driven lipid metabolism. Hydrolysis of EV phospholipids by group X sPLA2, which was induced in macrophages of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) lymphoma, increased the production of fatty acids, lysophospholipids, and their metabolites. sPLA2-treated EVs were smaller and self-aggregated, showed better uptake, and increased cytokine expression and lipid mediator signaling in tumor-associated macrophages. Pharmacological inhibition of endogenous sPLA2 suppressed lymphoma growth in EBV-infected humanized mice, while treatment with sPLA2-modified EVs reversed this phenotype. Furthermore, sPLA2 expression in human large B cell lymphomas inversely correlated with patient survival. Overall, the sPLA2-mediated EV modification promotes tumor development, highlighting a non-canonical mechanistic action of EVs as an extracellular hydrolytic platform of sPLA2.

Choline supplies methyl groups for regeneration of methionine and the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine in the liver. Here, we report that the catabolism of membrane phosphatidylcholine (PC) into water-soluble glycerophosphocholine (GPC) by the phospholipase/lysophospholipase PNPLA8-PNPLA7 axis enables endogenous choline stored in hepatic PC to be utilized in methyl metabolism. PNPLA7-deficient mice show marked decreases in hepatic GPC, choline, and several metabolites related to the methionine cycle, accompanied by various signs of methionine insufficiency, including growth retardation, hypoglycemia, hypolipidemia, increased energy consumption, reduced adiposity, increased fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), and an altered histone/DNA methylation landscape. Moreover, PNPLA8-deficient mice recapitulate most of these phenotypes. In contrast to wild-type mice fed a methionine/choline-deficient diet, both knockout strains display decreased hepatic triglyceride, likely via reductions of lipogenesis and GPC-derived glycerol flux. Collectively, our findings highlight the biological importance of phospholipid catabolism driven by PNPLA8/PNPLA7 in methyl group flux and triglyceride synthesis in the liver.

Oxidative stress and chronic low-grade inflammation in the lungs are associated with aging and may contribute to age-related immune dysfunction. To maintain lung homeostasis, chronic inflammation is countered by enhanced expression of proresolving/antiinflammatory factors. Here, we show that age-dependent increases of one such factor in the lungs, a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) group IID (PLA2G2D) with antiinflammatory properties, contributed to worse outcomes in mice infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Strikingly, infection of mice lacking PLA2G2D expression (Pla2g2d(-/-) mice) converted a uniformly lethal infection to a nonlethal one (>80% survival), subsequent to development of enhanced respiratory DC migration to the draining lymph nodes, augmented antivirus T cell responses, and diminished lung damage. We also observed similar effects in influenza A virus-infected middle-aged Pla2g2d(-/-) mice. Furthermore, oxidative stress, probably via lipid peroxidation, was found to induce PLA2G2D expression in mice and in human monocyte-derived macrophages. Thus, our results suggest that directed inhibition of a single inducible phospholipase, PLA2G2D, in the lungs of older patients with severe respiratory infections is potentially an attractive therapeutic intervention to restore immune function.

Hyperproduced prostaglandin E2 by cyclooxygenase-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 evokes several pathophysiological responses such as inflammation and carcinogenesis. Our recent study demonstrated that Dioscorea japonica extract suppressed the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 and induced apoptosis in lung carcinoma A549 cells. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Dioscorea japonica on squamous cell carcinoma of mouse skin. Dioscorea japonica feeding and Dioscorea japonica extract topical application suppressed the expression of cyclooxygenase-2, microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1, interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 and inhibited tumor formation, hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration. Immunohistochemical analyses showed the immunoreactivities of cyclooxygenase-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 in tumor keratinocytes and stronger immunoreactivities of cyclooxygenase-2 and hematopoietic prostaglandin D synthase in epidermal dendritic cells (Langerhans cells). Treatment with Dioscorea japonica decreased the immunoreactivity of cyclooxygenase-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1. These results indicate that Dioscorea japonica may have inhibitory effects on inflammation and carcinogenesis via suppression of the prostaglandin E2 synthetic pathway.

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system, but its physiological functions in vertebrates are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that autophagy is required for inflation of air-filled organs: zebrafish swim bladder and mouse lung. In wild-type zebrafish swim bladder and mouse lung type II pulmonary epithelial cells, autophagosomes are formed and frequently fuse with lamellar bodies. The lamellar body is a lysosome-related organelle that stores a phospholipid-containing surfactant complex that lines the air-liquid interface and reduces surface tension. We find that autophagy is critical for maturation of the lamellar body. Accordingly, atg-deficient zebrafish fail to maintain their position in the water, and type-II-pneumocyte-specific Fip200-deficient mice show neonatal lethality with respiratory failure. Autophagy suppression does not affect synthesis of the surfactant phospholipid, suggesting that autophagy supplies lipids and membranes to lamellar bodies. These results demonstrate an evolutionarily conserved role of autophagy in lamellar body maturation.

Resolution of inflammation is an active process that is mediated in part by antiinflammatory lipid mediators. Although phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes have been implicated in the promotion of inflammation through mobilizing lipid mediators, the molecular entity of PLA2 subtypes acting upstream of antiinflammatory lipid mediators remains unknown. Herein, we show that secreted PLA2 group IID (PLA2G2D) is preferentially expressed in CD11c(+) dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages and displays a pro-resolving function. In hapten-induced contact dermatitis, resolution, not propagation, of inflammation was compromised in skin and LNs of PLA2G2D-deficient mice (Pla2g2d(-/-)), in which the immune balance was shifted toward a proinflammatory state over an antiinflammatory state. Bone marrow-derived DCs from Pla2g2d(-/-) mice were hyperactivated and elicited skin inflammation after intravenous transfer into mice. Lipidomics analysis revealed that PLA2G2D in the LNs contributed to mobilization of a pool of polyunsaturated fatty acids that could serve as precursors for antiinflammatory/pro-resolving lipid mediators such as resolvin D1 and 15-deoxy-Δ(12,14)-prostaglandin J2, which reduced Th1 cytokine production and surface MHC class II expression in LN cells or DCs. Altogether, our results highlight PLA2G2D as a "resolving sPLA2" that ameliorates inflammation through mobilizing pro-resolving lipid mediators and points to a potential use of this enzyme for treatment of inflammatory disorders.

Mutations in the iPLA2-VIA/PLA2G6 gene are responsible for PARK14-linked Parkinson's disease (PD) with α-synucleinopathy. However, it is unclear how iPLA2-VIA mutations lead to α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregation and dopaminergic (DA) neurodegeneration. Here, we report that iPLA2-VIA-deficient Drosophila exhibits defects in neurotransmission during early developmental stages and progressive cell loss throughout the brain, including degeneration of the DA neurons. Lipid analysis of brain tissues reveals that the acyl-chain length of phospholipids is shortened by iPLA2-VIA loss, which causes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress through membrane lipid disequilibrium. The introduction of wild-type human iPLA2-VIA or the mitochondria-ER contact site-resident protein C19orf12 in iPLA2-VIA-deficient flies rescues the phenotypes associated with altered lipid composition, ER stress, and DA neurodegeneration, whereas the introduction of a disease-associated missense mutant, iPLA2-VIA A80T, fails to suppress these phenotypes. The acceleration of α-Syn aggregation by iPLA2-VIA loss is suppressed by the administration of linoleic acid, correcting the brain lipid composition. Our findings suggest that membrane remodeling by iPLA2-VIA is required for the survival of DA neurons and α-Syn stability.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disorder characterized by keratinocyte hyper-proliferation and Th17-type immune responses. However, the roles of bioactive lipids and the regulation of their biosynthesis in this chronic skin disease are not fully understood. Herein, we show that group IVE cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2 ε/PLA2G4E) plays a counterregulatory role against psoriatic inflammation by producing the anti-inflammatory lipid N-acylethanolamine (NAE). Lipidomics analysis of mouse skin revealed that NAE species and their precursors (N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine and glycerophospho-N-acylethanolamine) were robustly increased in parallel with the ongoing process of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis, accompanied by a marked upregulation of cPLA2 ε in epidermal keratinocytes. Genetic deletion of cPLA2 ε exacerbated IMQ-induced ear swelling and psoriatic marker expression, with a dramatic reduction of NAE-related lipids in IMQ-treated, and even normal, skin. Stimulation of cultured human keratinocytes with psoriatic cytokines concomitantly increased PLA2G4E expression and NAE production, and supplementation with NAEs significantly attenuated the cytokine-induced upregulation of the psoriatic marker S100A9. Increased expression of cPLA2 ε was also evident in the epidermis of psoriatic patients. These findings reveal for the first time the in vivo role of cPLA2 ε, which is highly induced in the keratinocytes of the psoriatic skin, promotes the biosynthesis of NAE-related lipids, and contributes to limiting psoriatic inflammation.

Epidermal lipids are important for skin homeostasis. However, the entire picture of the roles of lipids, particularly nonceramide lipid species, in epidermal biology still remains obscure. Here, we report that PLA2G2F, a functionally orphan-secreted phospholipase A2 expressed in the suprabasal epidermis, regulates skin homeostasis and hyperplasic disorders. Pla2g2f(-/-) mice had a fragile stratum corneum and were strikingly protected from psoriasis, contact dermatitis, and skin cancer. Conversely, Pla2g2f-overexpressing transgenic mice displayed psoriasis-like epidermal hyperplasia. Primary keratinocytes from Pla2g2f(-) (/-) mice showed defective differentiation and activation. PLA2G2F was induced by calcium or IL-22 in keratinocytes and preferentially hydrolyzed ethanolamine plasmalogen-bearing docosahexaenoic acid secreted from keratinocytes to give rise to unique bioactive lipids (i.e., protectin D1 and 9S-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid) that were distinct from canonical arachidonate metabolites (prostaglandins and leukotrienes). Ethanolamine lysoplasmalogen, a PLA2G2F-derived marker product, rescued defective activation of Pla2g2f(-/-) keratinocytes both in vitro and in vivo. Our results highlight PLA2G2F as a previously unrecognized regulator of skin pathophysiology and point to this enzyme as a novel drug target for epidermal-hyperplasic diseases.

Lipid mediators play pivotal roles in colorectal cancer and colitis, but only a limited member of the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) subtypes, which lie upstream of various lipid mediators, have been implicated in the positive or negative regulation of these diseases. Clinical and biochemical evidence suggests that secreted PLA2 group III (sPLA2-III) is associated with colorectal cancer, although its precise role remains obscure. Here we have found that sPLA2-III-null (Pla2g3 -/-) mice are highly resistant to colon carcinogenesis. Furthermore, Pla2g3 -/- mice are less susceptible to dextran sulfate-induced colitis, implying that the amelioration of colonic inflammation by sPLA2-III ablation may underlie the protective effect against colon cancer. Lipidomics analysis of the colon revealed significant reduction of pro-inflammatory/pro-tumorigenic lysophosholipids as well as unusual steady-state elevation of colon-protective fatty acids and their oxygenated metabolites in Pla2g3 -/- mice. Overall, our results establish a role of sPLA2-III in the promotion of colorectal inflammation and cancer, expand our understanding of the divergent roles of multiple PLA2 enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract, and point to sPLA2-III as a novel druggable target for colorectal diseases.

Besides promoting inflammation by mobilizing lipid mediators, group IIA secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) prevents bacterial infection by degrading bacterial membranes. Here, we show that, despite the restricted intestinal expression of sPLA2-IIA in BALB/c mice, its genetic deletion leads to amelioration of cancer and exacerbation of psoriasis in distal skin. Intestinal expression of sPLA2-IIA is reduced after treatment with antibiotics or under germ-free conditions, suggesting its upregulation by gut microbiota. Metagenome, transcriptome, and metabolome analyses have revealed that sPLA2-IIA deficiency alters the gut microbiota, accompanied by notable changes in the intestinal expression of genes related to immunity and metabolism, as well as in the levels of various blood metabolites and fecal bacterial lipids, suggesting that sPLA2-IIA contributes to shaping of the gut microbiota. The skin phenotypes in Pla2g2a-/- mice are lost (a) when they are cohoused with littermate WT mice, resulting in the mixing of the microbiota between the genotypes, or (b) when they are housed in a more stringent pathogen-free facility, where Pla2g2a expression in WT mice is low and the gut microbial compositions in both genotypes are nearly identical. Thus, our results highlight a potentially new aspect of sPLA2-IIA as a modulator of gut microbiota, perturbation of which affects distal skin responses.

The brain is generally resistant to regeneration after damage. The cerebral endogenous mechanisms triggering brain self-recovery have remained unclarified to date. We here discovered that the secreted phospholipase PLA2G2E from peri-infarct neurons generated dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) as necessary for triggering brain-autonomous neural repair after ischemic brain injury. Pla2g2e deficiency diminished the expression of peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (Padi4), a global transcriptional regulator in peri-infarct neurons. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and epigenetic analysis demonstrated that neuronal PADI4 had the potential for the transcriptional activation of genes associated with recovery processes after ischemic stroke through histone citrullination. Among various DGLA metabolites, we identified 15-hydroxy-eicosatrienoic acid (15-HETrE) as the cerebral metabolite that induced PADI4 in peri-infarct-surviving neurons. Administration of 15-HETrE enhanced functional recovery after ischemic stroke. Thus, our research clarifies the promising potential of brain-autonomous neural repair triggered by the specialized lipids that initiate self-recovery processes after brain injury.

Macrophages are essential for the proper inflammatory and reparative processes that lead to regeneration of skeletal muscle after injury. Recent studies have demonstrated close links between the function of activated macrophages and their cellular metabolism. Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1) is a key regulator of lipid metabolism and has been shown to affect the activated states of macrophages. However, its role in tissue repair and regeneration is poorly understood. Here we show that systemic deletion of Srebf1, encoding SREBP1, or macrophage-specific deletion of Srebf1a, encoding SREBP1a, delays resolution of inflammation and impairs skeletal muscle regeneration after injury. Srebf1 deficiency impairs mitochondrial function in macrophages and suppresses the accumulation of macrophages at sites of muscle injury. Lipidomic analyses showed the reduction of major phospholipid species in Srebf1 -/- muscle myeloid cells. Moreover, diet supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid restored the accumulation of macrophages and their mitochondrial gene expression and improved muscle regeneration. Collectively, our results demonstrate that SREBP1 in macrophages is essential for repair and regeneration of skeletal muscle after injury and suggest that SREBP1-mediated fatty acid metabolism and phospholipid remodeling are critical for proper macrophage function in tissue repair.