Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 5, 2025
07:20
Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
924
Lipid Droplets in Cancer
1Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia. toni.petan@ijs.si.
Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology
|October 19, 2020
Summary
Lipid droplets are dynamic organelles crucial for cancer cell survival, regulating lipid metabolism and supporting tumor growth. Targeting their turnover offers potential therapeutic strategies against cancer.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Cancer Metabolism
- Lipid Biology
Background:
- Lipid droplets (LDs) are organelles with a neutral lipid core, phospholipid monolayer, and associated proteins.
- Traditionally viewed as passive storage, LDs are dynamic, involved in lipid homeostasis and cellular signaling.
- LD biogenesis is triggered by cellular stress, including nutrient imbalance and lipid excess.
Approach:
- This review synthesizes current research on the multifaceted roles of LDs in cancer.
- It examines how cancer cells utilize LDs for lipid acquisition, trafficking, and utilization.
- The review discusses the regulation of LD breakdown and its implications in tumorigenesis.
Key Points:
- Cancer cells exploit LDs to meet high lipid demands for energy, membrane synthesis, and redox balance.
- LDs integrate various lipid acquisition pathways, including de novo synthesis, uptake, and recycling.
- LDs influence cancer progression by modulating autophagy, ferroptosis, and metastasis.
Conclusions:
- Lipid droplets are central to cancer cell adaptation and survival under stress.
- Targeting LD metabolism presents a promising avenue for novel cancer therapeutics.
- Further research into LD dynamics and regulation is critical for developing effective treatments.
Related Concept Videos
01:35Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
3.0K
Invadosome is a broad category of cell surface structures with proteolytic activity that degrades the extracellular matrix (ECM). Invadosomes are present in normal cell types, including macrophages, endothelial cells, and neurons, as well as tumor cells. Although the macrophage podosomes and tumor cell invadopodia are classified as invadosomes, they have different structures, molecular pathways, and functions. Podosomes are short structures that last for a few minutes. However,...
3.0K
02:39lncRNA - Long Non-coding RNAs
9.5K
In humans, more than 80% of the genome gets transcribed. However, only around 2% of the genome codes for proteins. The remaining part produces non-coding RNAs which includes ribosomal RNAs, transfer RNAs, telomerase RNAs, and regulatory RNAs, among other types. A large number of regulatory non-coding RNAs have been classified into two groups depending upon their length – small non-coding RNAs, such as microRNA, which are less than 200 nucleotides in length, and long non-coding RNA...
9.5K
02:53Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
6.6K
Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
6.6K