Control of triglyceride storage by a WD40/TPR-domain protein.

Obesity is a metabolic disorder related to improper control of energy uptake and expenditure, which results in excessive accumulation of body fat. Initial insights into the genetic pathways that regulate energy metabolism have been provided by a discrete number of obesity-related genes that have been identified in mammals. Here, we report the identification of the adipose (adp) gene, the mutation of which causes obesity in Drosophila. Loss of adp activity promotes increased fat storage, which extends the lifespan of mutant flies under starvation conditions. By contrast, adp gain-of-function causes a specific reduction of the fat body in Drosophila. adp encodes an evolutionarily conserved WD40/tetratricopeptide-repeat-domain protein that is likely to represent an intermediate in a novel signalling pathway.

Male Germ Cell-Expressed Mouse Gene TAZ83 Encodes a Putative, Cysteine-rich Transmembrane Protein (cyritestin) Sharing Homologies with Snake Toxins and Sperm-Egg Fusion Proteins: (testis/spermatogenesis/protein family/disintegrins).

Data obtained by cloning of a mouse cDNA (TAZ83) are presented. Its corresponding gene is expressed in meiotic and haploid testicular germ cells. The gene encodes a putative, cysteine-rich transmembrane protein with a deduced molecular weight of 90 kilodaltons and an isoelectric point of 5.4. Cysteine patterns within the predicted amino acid sequence of the TAZ83 gene product (cyritestin, cysteine-rich, testicular) are highly conserved when compared to various snake toxins of the disintegrin metalloproteinase type. The cysteine pattern conservation between cyritestin and a guinea pig sperm-egg fusion protein suggests that TAZ83 codes for a mouse protein with comparable properties or function.