Human adenovirus 36 decreases fatty acid oxidation and increases de novo lipogenesis in primary cultured human skeletal muscle cells by promoting Cidec/FSP27 expression

Background: It has been well documented that human adenovirus type 36 (Ad-36) is associated with obesity. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of Ad-36 inducing obesity remains unknown. We sought to investigate the effect of Ad-36 infection on Cidec, AMPK pathway and lipid metabolism in primary cultured human skeletal muscle cells. Methods: Cidec/fat-specific protein 27 (FSP27), fatty acid oxidation, AMPK signaling and the abundance of proteins involved in lipid synthesis were determined in muscle cells infected with various doses (1.9–7.6 MOI) of Ad-36 and non-lipogenic adenovirus type 2 (Ad-2) as a negative control as well as an uninfected control. Cidec/FSP27 siRNA transfection was performed in Ad-36-infected muscle cells. Results: Our data show that Ad-36 significantly reduced fatty acid oxidation in a dose-dependent manner (all P values are