Metabolic crosstalk between membrane and storage lipids facilitates heat stress management in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 3; p. e0173739
• Main Authors: Péter, Mária, Glatz, Attila, Gudmann, Péter, Gombos, Imre, Török, Zsolt, Horváth, Ibolya, Vígh, László, Balogh, Gábor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10.03.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adenosine triphosphatase; Baking yeast; Biochemistry; Biology and Life Sciences; Biosynthesis; Cell Membrane - metabolism; Cell membranes; Crosstalk; Fatty acids; Health aspects; Heat; Heat stress; Heat tolerance; Heat-Shock Response - physiology; Homeostasis; Hypothermia; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Lipids - analysis; Mammals; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Membrane Lipids - metabolism; Membranes; Metabolism; Metabolites; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Research and Analysis Methods; Resists; Saccharomyces; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saturated fatty acids; Schizosaccharomyces - growth & development; Schizosaccharomyces - physiology; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins - metabolism; Signal Transduction; Signaling; Storage; Stress response; Triglycerides; Triglycerides - biosynthesis; Triglycerides - metabolism; Viability; Yeast
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173739

Cell membranes actively participate in stress sensing and signalling. Here we present the first in-depth lipidomic analysis to characterize alterations in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe in response to mild heat stress (HS). The lipidome was assessed by a simple one-step methanolic extraction. Genetic manipulations that altered triglyceride (TG) content in the absence or presence of HS gave rise to distinct lipidomic fingerprints for S. pombe. Cells unable to produce TG demonstrated long-lasting growth arrest and enhanced signalling lipid generation. Our results reveal that metabolic crosstalk between membrane and storage lipids facilitates homeostatic maintenance of the membrane physical/chemical state that resists negative effects on cell growth and viability in response to HS. We propose a novel stress adaptation mechanism in which heat-induced TG synthesis contributes to membrane rigidization by accommodating unsaturated fatty acids of structural lipids, enabling their replacement by newly synthesized saturated fatty acids.