Université de Fribourg

ER membrane phospholipids and surface tension control cellular lipid droplet formation

M'barek, Kalthoum Ben ; Ajjaji, Dalila ; Chorlay, Aymeric ; Vanni, Stefano ; Forêt, Lionel ; Thiam, Abdou Rachid

In: Developmental Cell, 2017, vol. 41, no. 6, p. 591–604.e7

Cells convert excess energy into neutral lipids that are made in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) bilayer. The lipids are then packaged into spherical or budded lipid droplets (LDs) covered by a phospholipid monolayer containing proteins. LDs play a key role in cellular energy metabolism and homeostasis. A key unanswered question in the life of LDs is how they bud off from the ER. Here, we...