33
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Triacylglycerol synthesis enzymes mediate lipid droplet growth by relocalizing from the ER to lipid droplets.

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Lipid droplets (LDs) store metabolic energy and membrane lipid precursors. With excess metabolic energy, cells synthesize triacylglycerol (TG) and form LDs that grow dramatically. It is unclear how TG synthesis relates to LD formation and growth. Here, we identify two LD subpopulations: smaller LDs of relatively constant size, and LDs that grow larger. The latter population contains isoenzymes for each step of TG synthesis. Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 4 (GPAT4), which catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step, relocalizes from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to a subset of forming LDs, where it becomes stably associated. ER-to-LD targeting of GPAT4 and other LD-localized TG synthesis isozymes is required for LD growth. Key features of GPAT4 ER-to-LD targeting and function in LD growth are conserved between Drosophila and mammalian cells. Our results explain how TG synthesis is coupled with LD growth and identify two distinct LD subpopulations based on their capacity for localized TG synthesis.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Dev Cell
          Developmental cell
          Elsevier BV
          1878-1551
          1534-5807
          Feb 25 2013
          : 24
          : 4
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Cell Biology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
          Article
          S1534-5807(13)00041-5 NIHMS485130
          10.1016/j.devcel.2013.01.013
          3727400
          23415954
          1077c11c-bf43-4e47-b930-84aaafcd8445
          Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article