Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Lipid Droplet Isolation for Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Published on: April 17, 2017
Glycerolipid Synthesis and Lipid Droplet Formation in the Endoplasmic Reticulum
Robert V Farese1,2,3,4, Tobias C Walther1,2,3,4,5
1Department of Molecular Metabolism, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA robert@hsph.harvard.edu twalther@hsph.harvard.edu.
Abstract:
More than 60 years ago, Eugene Kennedy and coworkers elucidated the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-based pathways of glycerolipid synthesis, including the synthesis of phospholipids and triacylglycerols (TGs). The reactions of the Kennedy pathway were identified by studying the conversion of lipid intermediates and the isolation of biochemical enzymatic activities, but the molecular basis for most of these reactions was unknown. With recent progress in the cell biology, biochemistry, and structural biology in this area, we have a much more mechanistic understanding of this pathway and its reactions. In this review, we provide an overview of molecular aspects of glycerolipid synthesis, focusing on recent insights into the synthesis of TGs. Further, we go beyond the Kennedy pathway to describe the mechanisms for storage of TG in cytosolic lipid droplets and discuss how overwhelming these pathways leads to ER stress and cellular toxicity, as seen in diseases linked to lipid overload and obesity.
Related Concept Videos
Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER
A large chunk of any biological membrane is composed of phospholipids. These lipids have a heterogeneous distribution across different subcellular organelles and even between...
Synthesis of Phosphatidylcholine in the ER Membrane
The major components of all eukaryotic cell...
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum
The ER provides optimal conditions for synthesizing steroid hormones and lipids, such as phospholipids and triglycerides. Traditionally, lipid metabolism was considered to be a smooth ER function. However, there is no direct evidence to prove that rough ER is completely excluded from lipid...
Biosynthesis of Lipids
The Endoplasmic Reticulum
Endoplasmic Reticulum

