Submitted on April 3, 2008
Revised on July 2, 2008
Accepted on July 7, 2008
siRNA screening reveals JNK2 as an evolutionary conserved regulator of triglyceride homeostasis
Vinciane Grimard, Julia Massier, Doris Richter, Dominik Schwudke, Yannis Kalaidzidis, Eugenio Fava, and Christoph Thiele
Dept. of Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden 01307
Corresponding Author: thiele{at}mpi-cbg.de
Lipid homeostasis is essential for proper function of cells and organisms. In order to unravel new regulators of this system we developed a screening procedure, combining RNA interference in HeLa cells and thin layer chromatography, which enabled us to monitor modifications of lipid composition resulting from siRNA knock-downs. We applied this technique to the analysis of 600 human kinases. Despite the occurrence of off-target effects, we identified JNK2 as a new player in triglyceride homeostasis and lipid droplet metabolism and, more specifically, in the regulation of lipolysis. Similar control of the level of triglycerides and lipid droplets was observed for its S. pombe homolog Sty1, suggesting an evolutionary conserved function of MAP kinases in the regulation of lipid storage in eukaryotic cells.
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