The physiologic effects of caloric restriction are reflected in the in vivo adipocyte-enriched proteome of overweight/obese subjects.

We have applied our recently designed proteomics apparoach to search for protein changes in the in vivo adipocyte-enriched proteome from 8 overweight/obese subjects who underwent an intervention of 5 weeks of a very low calorie diet followed by 3 weeks of a normal diet. On average, persons lost 9.5 kg body weight largely contributed by the loss of fat mass (7.1 kg). Various parameters of adiposity and lipid metabolism changed significantly. Proteomics analysis revealed 6 significantly changed proteins. Analysis indicates that fructose-bisphosphate aldolase C and tubulin beta 5 are potential biomarkers for the present intervention. Further, identified proteins indicate a reduced intracellular scaffolding of GLUT4 (ALDOC, TUBB5, ANXA2), an increased uptake of fatty acids (FABP4), an improved inflammatory profile of the adipose tissue (ApoA1, AOP1) and a change in fat droplet organization (vimentin). Correlation analysis between changes in protein spot intensities and parameters of adiposity or lipid metabolism points to a link between aldo-ketoreductase 1C2 and parameters of adiposity, between FABP4 and parameters of lipid metabolism, and between proteins for beta-oxidation (HADH, ACADS, ACAT1) and FFA levels. Altogether, our findings underscore the potential value of in vivo proteomics for human intervention studies.