Glycerol: a neglected variable in metabolic processes?

Abstract

Glycerol is a small and simple molecule produced in the breakdown of glucose, proteins, pyruvate, triacylglycerols and other glycerolipid, as well as release from dietary fats. An increasing number of observations show that glycerol is probably involved in a surprising variety of physiopathologic mechanisms. Glycerol has long been known to play fundamental roles in several vital physiological processes, in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and is an important intermediate of energy metabolism. Despite some differences in the details of their operation, many of these mechanisms have been preserved throughout evolution, demonstrating their fundamental importance. In particular, glycerol can control osmotic activity and crystal formation and then act as a cryoprotective agent. Furthermore, its properties make it useful in numerous industrial, therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Few studies have focussed directly on glycerol, however, and while its metabolism is increasingly well documented, much of the details remain unknown. Considering the importance of glycerol in multiple vital physiological processes, its study could help unlock important physiopathological mechanisms.

Critical role of aquaporin-3 in the human epidermal growth factor-induced migration and proliferation in the human gastric adenocarcinoma cells

“…16 It is well known that nearly 60% of synthesized glycerol is metabolized to glycerol-3-phosphate, which is one of the key metabolic intermediates for ATP production. 32 Hara-Chikuma et al found that glycerol supplementation corrected the reduced proliferation and ATP content in AQP3 deficiency, with cellular glycerol, ATP and enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) detection system following manufacturer's instructions and visualized by autoradiography with Hyperfilm. RNA interference (RNAi) experiments.…”

Expression and Localization of Aqua-glyceroporins AQP3 and AQP9 in Rat Oral Epithelia

“…It is an important intermediary in energy metabolism and a substrate for the biosynthesis of various lipids 6) . In addition, glycerol can control osmotic activity in the cytoplasm 6) .…”

“…It is an important intermediary in energy metabolism and a substrate for the biosynthesis of various lipids 6) . In addition, glycerol can control osmotic activity in the cytoplasm 6) . A recent study on expression of AQP3 in skin has shown that AQP3-facilitated water transport is involved in cell migration and accelerating wound healing; furthermore, AQP3-facilitated glycerol transport is involved in generating ATP and facilitates epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation, and also tumorigenesis 13,15,16,38) .…”

Targeted Gene Disruption of Glycerol-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Reveals Evidence That Glycerol Is a Significant Transferred Nutrient from Host Plant to Fungal Pathogen

“…There can be several alternative glycerol dissimilation pathways, including the NADP-linked glycerol dehydrogenase route and the FAD-linked Gly-3-P dehydrogenase route (42). It has been suggested according to its phylogenetic distribution that glycerol metabolism can be taken back as far as the prebiotic era (43). It was recently demonstrated that glycerol supplied exogenously to extracellular hyphae of the symbiotic mycorrhiza is incorporated into triacylglycerol in the intracellular hyphae, and subsequently transferred to the extracellular hyphae as an energy source (44).…”