Microscopic analysis of lipid droplet metabolism and dynamics in yeast

Lipid-associated disorders are a worldwide health concern and major efforts are directed toward understanding--at the molecular levels--mechanisms of lipid storage and degradation, in healthy and diseased states. Yeast is a widely used model organisms to study such processes at the cellular level because of significant functional and structural conservation of the factors involved in lipid metabolism. The focus of this study is on the microscopic investigation of the turnover of lipid droplets that are the intracellular storage compartments for fat, using a combination of green fluorescent protein-tagging and vital dye-labeling techniques. The applications and pitfalls of such techniques in understanding lipid storage and degradation are discussed.