Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ (PPARβ/δ) but not PPARα serves as a plasma free fatty acid sensor in liver

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is an important transcription factor in liver that can be activated physiologically by fasting or pharmacologically by using high-affinity synthetic agonists. Here we initially set out to elucidate the similarities in gene induction between Wy14643 and fasting. Numerous genes were commonly regulated in liver between the two treatments, including many classical PPARα target genes, such as Aldh3a2 and Cpt2. Remarkably, several genes induced by Wy14643 were upregulated by fasting independently of PPARα, including Lpin2 and St3gal5, suggesting involvement of another transcription factor. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, Lpin2 and St3gal5 were shown to be direct targets of PPARβ/δ during fasting, whereas Aldh3a2 and Cpt2 were exclusive targets of PPARα. Binding of PPARβ/δ to the Lpin2 and St3gal5 genes followed the plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentration, consistent with activation of PPARβ/δ by plasma FFAs. Subsequent experiments using transgenic and knockout mice for Angptl4, a potent stimulant of adipose tissue lipolysis, confirmed the stimulatory effect of plasma FFAs on Lpin2 and St3gal5 expression levels via PPARβ/δ. In contrast, the data did not support activation of PPARα by plasma FFAs. The results identify Lpin2 and St3gal5 as novel PPARβ/δ target genes and show that upregulation of gene expression by PPARβ/δ is sensitive to plasma FFA levels. In contrast, this is not the case for PPARα, revealing a novel mechanism for functional differentiation between PPARs.