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Updated: Dec 20, 2025

Author Spotlight: Analysis of Fluorescent-Stained Lipid Droplets with 3D Reconstruction for Hepatic Steatosis Assessment
Published on: June 2, 2023
Hepatic lipid droplet homeostasis and fatty liver disease
Fabian Seebacher1, Anja Zeigerer2, Nora Kory3
1Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Center Munich, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Division of Metabolic Diseases, Department of Medicine, Technische Universität München.
Abstract:
In cells, lipids are stored in lipid droplets, dynamic organelles that adapt their size, abundance, lipid and protein composition and organelle interactions to metabolic changes. Lipid droplet accumulation in the liver is the hallmark of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Due to the prevalence of obesity, the strongest risk factor for steatosis, NAFLD and its associated complications are currently affecting more than 1 billion people worldwide. Here, we review how triglyceride and phospholipid homeostasis are regulated in hepatocytes and how imbalances between lipid storage, degradation and lipoprotein secretion lead to NAFLD. We discuss how organelle interactions are altered in NAFLD and provide insights how NAFLD progression is associated with changes in hepatocellular signaling and organ-crosstalk. Finally, we highlight unsolved questions in hepatic LD and lipoprotein biology and give an outlook on therapeutic options counteracting hepatic lipid accumulation.
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