Fat Storage Inducing Transmembrane Protein 1 (FITM1)

FIT1 belongs to an evolutionarily conserved family of proteins involved in fat storage.Kadereit et al. (2008) cloned mouse Fit1 and Fit2. Fit1 encodes a deduced 292-amino acid protein. Northern blot analysis detected high Fit1 expression in mouse heart and skeletal muscle, with lower expression in liver, kidney, and testis. In human tissues, FIT1 was primarily expressed in heart and skeletal muscle. Western blot analysis detected Fit1 expression primarily in mouse skeletal muscle, with lower expression in heart. Epitope-tagged Fit1 and Fit2 were expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of transfected HEK293 human embryonic kidney cells.Kadereit et al. (2008) found that mouse Fit1 and Fit2 induced lipid droplet accumulation in transfected HEK293 cells and when expressed in mouse liver.