Fat Body (Insects)

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The insect fat body is a mesodermal tissue composed of a meshwork of loose lobes suspended in the hemocoel and bathed in the insect hemolymph. The tissue is composed primarily of vacuolated rounded or polyhedral cells called adipocytes or trophocytes, which commonly harbor stored inclusions of proteins, lipids, and glycogen. In certain insect species, mycetocytes (cells containing symbiontic microorganisms) and urocytes (cells containing nitrogenous waste product in the form of uric acid) are present. The fat body is also associated with connective tissue and various blood cell types. Being a major biosynthetic and storage organ in insects, the insect fat body is equivalent to the vertebrate liver. It is the prime location of intermediary metabolism and detoxification processes, as well as storage and excretion of glycogen, lipids, and proteins. Storage of reserves is characteristic of the larval fat body cells. Such reserves are subsequently used for metamorphosis in holometabolous insects and for flight and reproduction in adults.

STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION

Although the insect fat body is widely distributed throughout the hemocoel, two major regions can be distinguished. Near the integument and musculature is the peripheral (subcuticular) fat body, which largely functions for storage. The second layer, the perivisceral (gut) fat body, which surrounds the alimentary canal, is more meta-bolically active than the previous layer. The fat body tissue surrounds other insect organs such as brain and nervous tissues, gonads, and muscles. It is noteworthy that the fat body is intimately associated with nearly all vital tissues and organs in the insect body, including the tracheal system, the musculature, the Malpighian tubules, and the hemolymph. This spatial organization is well adapted to the physiology and the open circulatory diffusion system of insects, thereby facilitating absorption and release of metabolites and nutrients.


FAT BODY CELLS

Adipocytes (trophocytes) are the predominant cell type associated with metabolic and storage functions. In young cells, a few inclusions can be detected and the nuclei are round. As the cells mature and accumulate nutritional reserves, they become vacuolated and the nuclei are compressed. The colors of adipocytes, which depend on the insect species and change with maturation, range from white, yellow, tan, and brown to blue.
Urocytes are special cells common in cockroaches, which sequester uric acid (the main end product of nitrogen metabolism in terrestrial insects) for excretion and storage. They are degenerate cells which, unlike adipocytes, lack organelles such as mitochondria, ribosomes, or the endoplasmic reticulum.
Mycetocytes are cells that harbor symbiontic microorganisms and may serve for nutritional purposes. Mycetocytes are in proximity to urocytes, a spatial organization that implies some sort of physiological-biochemical interaction.
The adipocytes are arranged in two or three layers in the periphery of the fat body lobe, and the more metabolically active cells face the circulatory system. The mycetocytes are located in the center of the lobe surrounded by urocytes.
Other cell types associated with the fat body, including various blood cells, can be found adhered to fat body cells. Oenocytes, which are large ectodermally derived cells, have also been observed to be attached to adipocytes. Their exact physiological role is unresolved.
Recently, a model insect cell line derived from the silkworm ovaries served to facilitate studies at the molecular level of adipocyte differentiation, lipid accumulation, and inducible adipogenesis.

METABOLIC FUNCTIONS

The fat body participates in myriad metabolic activities and functions. Absorption from hemolymph and buildup of intracellular storage nutrients in the form of lipid droplets, carbohydrate (glycogen) deposits, and protein granules during the immature stages are aimed at accumulating reserves for later stages and primarily to serve adult activities. Fat body cells, having homeostatic functions related to metabolism, respond to nutritional and hormonal cues that regulate and modulate blood sugars, lipids, and proteins at larval and mature stages.
As in vertebrates, the oxidative metabolism is mediated via the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the electron transport enzyme systems. The fat body contains enzymes mediating the gluconeogenesis process as well as enzymatic systems with a detoxification role to manage harmful endogenous metabolites and toxic xenobiotic compounds. Detoxifying enzyme systems include microsomal mixed function oxi-dases, in which the cytochrome P450 is predominant, various hydro-lytic enzymes (esterases, phosphoesterases), and conjugating systems.
The cells synthesize the various blood proteins (lipoproteins, gly-colipoproteins), which include juvenile hormone (JH) carrier proteins (protecting JH from degradation), diglyceride carrier proteins, diapause proteins, and, particularly at the adult stage, production of vitel-logenins (yolk proteins) that are absorbed by the maturing oocytes. Fat body cells also synthesize JH esterase, which regulates levels of JH in the insect blood, and enzymes involved in purine metabolism. Generally, proteins released into the insect blood during larval development are sequestered by the adipocytes, forming large intracellular granules until their use during metamorphosis. Triglycerides, which are the major form of stored lipids, are mobilized when needed and released into the hemolymph in the form of diglycerides accompanied by the production of specific carrier proteins. Trehalose, produced by the fat body, constitutes the major disaccharide in the insect blood. Glycogen, which is the principal form of stored carbohydrates, is mainly present in the peripheral fat body adipocytes. Glycogen is synthesized (by glycogen synthase) and hydrolyzed (by glycogen phospho-rylase) by these enzymes active in the fat body cells. The hydrolytic products are mobilized at molting and metamorphosis to serve as precursors required for chitin synthesis and formation of the new cuticle.

ENDOCRINE CONTROL OF

FAT BODY METABOLISM

Neuroendocrine secretions from brain and ganglia, ecdysteroids (molting hormones), JHs, and the myriad corpora cardiaca neuro-secretions affect the metabolic state of the adipocytes. These endocrine secretions are strongly influenced by stimuli from internal and external environments, and they function to coordinate and integrate crucial metabolic activities involved in molting, growth, metamorphosis, and reproduction. The fat body is a target tissue for endocrine regulation as is illustrated shortly. Stored glycogen and proteins are mobilized during the molting process to form the newly synthesized cuticular chitin-protein complex. The blood level of trehalose is regulated by a corpora cardiaca neurohormone. The adipokinetic hormone from the corpora cardiaca stimulates the adipocytes to release diglycerides and the accompanied lipoprotein carrier, and enhances lipid oxidation to fuel flight in favor of carbohydrate oxidation. Synthesis and release of vitellogenins by the female fat body cells are usually under the control of JH, although in certain insect species the molting hormone is also involved.

FAT BODY DURING DEVELOPMENT AND METAMORPHOSIS

During the period of metamorphosis, the fat body tissue undergoes extensive morphological, histological, biochemical, and organizational changes. These processes are triggered by the molting hormone on the background presence of extremely low levels of the JH. Such alterations have been thoroughly studied in dipterans and lepidopterans. Two major strategies for transforming the larval fat body into an adult tissue exist: (1) the histolytic pathway, in which the larval fat body adi-pocytes in dipteran species are completely histolyzed and the adult new tissue is formed from undifferentiated stem cells, and (2) the remodeling pathway, in which adipocytes in the larval stage of lepidopteran insects dissociate at metamorphosis into individual cells before being reassociated into the adult new tissue. In certain holometabolous insect species, a combination of the two processes takes place.
Dynamic exchanges of nutrients between fat body cells and the hemolymph compartments are evident throughout the life cycle of holometabolous insects (Fig. 1). Buildup of reserves and their partial
Exchange of stored reserves between fat body cells and hemolymph during the life cycle of holometabolous insects. Asterisk indicates that later, as stem cells are differentiated into adult fat body cells, a buildup of reserves occurs.
FIGURE 1 Exchange of stored reserves between fat body cells and hemolymph during the life cycle of holometabolous insects. Asterisk indicates that later, as stem cells are differentiated into adult fat body cells, a buildup of reserves occurs.
use at the molting periods are the characteristics of the larval stages. During the prepupal period, mass quantities of reserve material are accumulated in the fat body cells. Lysis of fat body cells in higher dipteran species at metamorphosis results in the discharge of stored reserves into the hemolymph. However, as the new adult fat body cells are formed, nutrients are reabsorbed. In contrast, in lepidop-teran species in which cell remodeling occurs, a status quo prevails. Fat body cells in adults are depleted of reserve materials, which are used for locomotion and reproduction

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