View Program - 63rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference

STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) is an endoplasmic reticulum-associated transmembrane protein that plays an important role in innate immune response by controlling the transcription of many host defense genes. STING has been extensively studied in mammalian immune response, however, the role of STING in the innate immunity of insects have been just recently identified. Immune system is tightly linked with metabolic regulation in all animals, and proper re-distribution of the energy is crucial during immune challenges. Insect fat body integrates these two important systems: it serves as a major immune organ, and also stores excess nutrients (mostly in the form of lipids) and mobilizes them during metabolic shifts. In this work we describe a novel function of Drosophila STING (dSTING) in lipid metabolism. We discovered that flies with a deletion of dSTING are sensitive to the starvation and oxidative stress. Detailed analysis revealed that dSTING deletion resulted in a significant decrease in the main storage metabolites, such as TAG, trehalose and glycogen. We identified two fatty-acid biosynthesis enzymes - Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FASN) - as the interacting partners for dSTING. Moreover, we found that FASN and ACC interacted with each other, indicating that all three proteins might be components of a large complex. Importantly, dSTING deletion leads to the decreased FASN activity and defects in ACC cellular localization suggesting a direct role of dSTING in lipid metabolism of fruit flies.

Drosophila STING protein has a role in lipid metabolism