REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1643008
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Insights on Vascular and Metabolic Diabetic ComplicationsView all 16 articles
The role of protein S-acylation in vascular injury associated with metabolic disorders
Provisionally accepted
Yayun Wang1
Wenhui Zhu1Wenfan Wang1Jiayi Zhang1Dongsen Hu2Huanmeng Shao3Yingtong Zhou3
Shan Wang4*
Linhua Zhao1*- 1Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
- 2Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
- 3Binzhou Medical University, Binzhou, China
- 4China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
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Protein palmitoylation represents a prevalent form post-translational lipid modification across various organisms. This reversible and dynamic cellular process is significant in regulating the transcription and expression of downstream target genes, as well as in facilitating signal transduction. Consequently, it affects various cellular activities, including innate immunity, inflammation, glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and functions of the brain and heart. Vascular injury emerges as a critical target organ affected by complications associated with metabolic diseases, and the palmitoylation modifications are implicated in numerous pathological processes. This review offers an overview of current understanding on protein palmitoylation and palmitic acid, emphasizing the influence of the palmitoylation modification on cellular signal transduction in metabolic diseases and exploring its connection with metabolism-related conditions such as diabetic cardiopathy, diabetic nephropathy, and fatty liver diseases. Palmitoleic acid modification holds great promise for tackling challenges related to drug specificity, off-target effects, and delivery mechanisms in the exploration of targeted palmitoleic acid modification therapy in vivo. Moreover, methodological challenges in the joint analysis and mining of large databases, including gene databases, as well as the objective evaluation of studies on the bidirectional regulation of diseases, necessitate further investigation. These insights may provide novel insights for the development of clinical therapeutic strategies.
Keywords: protein palmitoylation, Palmitic Acid, metabolic disorders, vascular injury, diabete
Received: 07 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhu, Wang, Zhang, Hu, Shao, Zhou, Wang and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shan Wang, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
Linhua Zhao, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.