The nucleus-vacuole junction at a glance

The nucleus-vacuole junction (NVJ) is a central membrane contact site in yeast that connects the nuclear endoplasmic reticulum and the vacuole. This organelle interface is heavily involved in the handling of lipids: it houses numerous lipid metabolism enzymes and lipid transfer proteins, and acts as a hotspot for lipid droplet biogenesis. The NVJ shows plastic responses to metabolic cues, adapting both its architecture and its proteome. Many NVJ-resident proteins display alternative, metabolically controlled localizations at other contact sites. This close-knit communication with diverse cellular structures makes the NVJ an important model for understanding general principles of contact site regulation. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster, we highlight the multifunctionality and metabolic plasticity of the NVJ, as well as its integration into the cellular contact site network.