Abstract
Adequate energy storage is essential for sustaining healthy life. Lipid droplet (LD) is the subcellular organelle that stores energy in the form of neutral lipids and releases fatty acids under energy deficient conditions. Energy storage capacity of LDs is primarily dependent on the sizes of LDs. Enlargement and growth of LDs is controlled by two molecular pathways: neutral lipid synthesis and atypical LD fusion. Shrinkage of LDs is mediated by the degradation of neutral lipids under energy demanding conditions and is controlled by neutral cytosolic lipases and lysosomal acidic lipases. In this review, we summarize recent progress regarding the regulatory pathways and molecular mechanisms that control the sizes and the energy storage capacity of LDs.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 46-56 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Science China Life Sciences |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- atypical LD fusion
- lipid droplet
- lipid storage
- lipolysis
- TAG synthesis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Environmental Science
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences