Cloning of a rat adipocyte membrane protein implicated in binding or transport of long-chain fatty acids that is induced during preadipocyte differentiation. Homology with human CD36.

A cDNA for an adipocyte membrane protein, implicated in the transport of long-chain fatty acids, was isolated by screening with a synthetic oligonucleotide derived from the amino terminal sequence of the protein. The 88-kDa adipocyte membrane protein was previously identified by covalent labeling with N-sulfosuccinimidyl esters of long-chain fatty acids which irreversibly inhibited fatty acid transport by 75% (Harmon, C. M., and Abumrad, N.A. (1993) J. Membr. Biol. 124, 261-268). The cDNA (FAT, 2432 base pairs (bp)) contained 70 bp of 5'-untranslated sequence, an open reading frame encoding a 472-amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 52466, and 940 bp of 3'-untranslated sequence with two polyadenylation signal sequences but with no polyadenylation tail. The deduced protein sequence predicted two transmembrane segments and 10 potential N-linked glycosylation sites. Extensive glycosylation most likely explains why the molecular mass of the isolated protein (88 kDa) is different from that deduced from the cDNA sequence (53 kDa). The sequence of FAT is 85% homologous with that of glycoprotein IV (CD36) identified in human platelets and in lactating mammary epithelium. Consistent with this, a polyclonal antibody against CD36 reacted with adipocyte plasma membranes and detected a single band at 88 kDa. Northern blot analysis of RNA obtained from rat adipose tissue and probed with the cDNA identified two major transcripts of 4.8 and 2.9 kilobases which were abundant in heart, intestine, fat, muscle, and testis. The mRNAs were not detectable in cultured adipose cell lines (Ob1771, 3T3F442A) at the fibroblastic stage but were strongly induced during the differentiation process and by treatment of preadipocytes with dexamethasone, conditions that were also associated with an increase in oleate transport. In contrast, the fibroblastic cell lines 3T3-C2 and L929, which do not differentiate, did not express the mRNAs at all stages of culture. The data suggest that FAT and CD36 belong to a family of proteins that bind/transport long-chain fatty acids or function as regulators of these processes.