The Role of Fatty Acid Binding Protein as a Link Between Metabolic Switching and Immune Response in the Macrophage

Abstract

Over the last years, there has been unprecedented growth of metabolically-related diseases yet the underlying cellular mechanisms by which each arise is still widely unknown. Recent evidence supports a strong link between the pro-inflammatory response and mechanisms regulating cellular metabolism. This project investigates the role of metabolic factors on the pro-inflammatory response of the macrophage. Macrophages are significant in their heterogeneous phases of activation. Activation change is triggered by cell environment, which is ultimately a product of cell metabolism. The macrophage’s metabolic switching combined with its known role in the immune response indicates that a relationship may exist between these two functions. Fatty Acid Binding Protein 5 (FABP5) is exclusive to the macrophage. FABP5 has a known role in fatty acid metabolism but the pathways by which FABP5 connects to the inflammatory response, and thus to disease, is under investigation. We have found through observing changes in gene expression (i.e. Interleukin 12, IL-12; chemokine ligand 2, CCL-2; Acyl-CoA Oxidase 1, AOX; Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha, PGC-1α; and Cluster of differentiation 36, CD36) already known to be connected to metabolism and inflammatory response that FABP is a vital link between metabolic switching and immune response in the macrophage.