Impaired Adipocyte SLC7A10 Promotes Lipid Storage in Association With Insulin Resistance and Altered BCAA Metabolism

Context: The neutral amino acid transporter SLC7A10/ASC-1 is an adipocyte-expressed gene with reduced expression in insulin resistance and obesity. Inhibition of SLC7A10 in adipocytes was shown to increase lipid accumulation despite decreasing insulin-stimulated uptake of glucose, a key substrate for de novo lipogenesis. These data imply that alternative lipogenic substrates to glucose fuel continued lipid accumulation during insulin resistance in obesity.

Objective: We examined whether increased lipid accumulation during insulin resistance in adipocytes may involve alter flux of lipogenic amino acids dependent on SLC7A10 expression and activity, and whether this is reflected by extracellular and circulating concentrations of marker metabolites.

Methods: In adipocyte cultures with impaired SLC7A10, we performed RNA sequencing and relevant functional assays. By targeted metabolite analyses (GC-MS/MS), flux of all amino acids and selected metabolites were measured in human and mouse adipose cultures. Additionally, SLC7A10 mRNA levels in human subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were correlated to candidate metabolites and adiposity phenotypes in 2 independent cohorts.

Results: SLC7A10 impairment altered expression of genes related to metabolic processes, including branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism, lipogenesis, and glyceroneogenesis. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, SLC7A10 inhibition increased fatty acid uptake and cellular content of glycerol and cholesterol. SLC7A10 impairment in SAT cultures altered uptake of aspartate and glutamate, and increased net uptake of BCAAs, while increasing the net release of the valine catabolite 3- hydroxyisobutyrate (3-HIB). In human cohorts, SLC7A10 mRNA correlated inversely with total fat mass, circulating triacylglycerols, BCAAs, and 3-HIB.

Conclusion: Reduced SLC7A10 activity strongly affects flux of BCAAs in adipocytes, which may fuel continued lipogenesis during insulin resistance, and be reflected in increased circulating levels of the valine-derived catabolite 3-HIB.