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Updated: Sep 1, 2025

Isolation of Cellular Lipid Droplets: Two Purification Techniques Starting from Yeast Cells and Human Placentas
Published on: April 1, 2014
ARP2/3 Regulates Fatty Acid Synthesis by Modulating Lipid Droplets' Motility
Pengxiang Zhao1, Hongbo Han1, Xiang Wu1
1Key Laboratory of Agriculture Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
None:
The breakdown of lipid droplets (LDs) provides energy and contributes to the proliferation and migration of cancer cells. Recent studies have suggested that motility plays a key role in LD breakdown. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying LD motility were poorly characterized. In this study, we examined the function of microfilament-associated proteins 2 and 3 (ARP2 and ARP3) in regulating LDs’ motility in Hela cells. ARP2/3 mediated the LDs’ physical contact with F-actin and promoted the recruitment of Myosin Heavy Chain 9 (MYH9). MYH9 regulated the LD content by binding with LDs and ARP2/3. The number of LDs and TG content was increased after MYH9 interfered. The genes related to FA-related genes and neutral lipid synthesis-related genes were significantly increased (p < 0.05) when ARP2 and ARP3 were overexpressed. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that the high expression of ARP2/3 was associated with a poorer prognosis in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). This study showed the effect of cytoskeletal filaments on LD metabolism in cancer cells.
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