The regulation of lipid and carbohydrate storage by the splicing factor gene snRNP-U1-70K in the Drosophila fat body

Excess triglycerides from the diet are stored in structures called lipid droplets in adipose tissue. Genome-wide RNAi screens have identified mRNA splicing factors as important for lipid droplet formation; however, the full complement of splicing factors that regulate lipid storage is not known. Here, we characterize the role of snRNP-U1-70K , the gene encoding for a splicing protein involved in recognizing the 5’ splice site in introns, in regulating lipid and carbohydrate storage in the Drosophila fat body. Decreasing snRNP-U1-70K specifically in the fly fat body resulted in less triglyceride, glycogen, and glucose in each fat body cell. Consistent with these decreased nutrient storage phenotypes, snRNP-U1-70K-RNAi flies ate less, providing a potential cause for less lipid and carbohydrate storage in these flies. These data further support the role of mRNA processing in regulating metabolic homeostasis in Drosophila .