Lipid storage

2021
Jiunn Song, Arda Mizrak, Chia-Wei Lee, Marcelo Cicconet, Zon Weng Lai, Chieh-Han Lu, Stephanie E. Mohr, Jr Robert V. Farese, and Tobias C. Walther. 9/15/2021. “Identification of two pathways mediating protein targeting from ER to lipid droplets [NOTE: a modified final version was published in Nat Cell Biol and is now available]”. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Pathways localizing proteins to their sites of action within a cell are essential for eukaryotic cell organization and function. Although mechanisms of protein targeting to many organelles have been defined, little is known about how proteins, such as key metabolic enzymes, target from the ER to cellular lipid droplets (LDs). Here, we identify two distinct pathways for ER-to-LD (ERTOLD) protein targeting: early ERTOLD, occurring during LD formation, and late ERTOLD, targeting mature LDs after their formation. By using systematic, unbiased approaches, we identified specific membrane-fusion machinery, including regulators, a tether, and SNARE proteins, that are required for late ERTOLD targeting. Components of this fusion machinery localize to LD-ER interfaces and appear to be organized at ER exit sites (ERES) to generate ER-LD membrane bridges. We also identified multiple cargoes for early and late ERTOLD. Collectively, our data provide a new model for how proteins target LDs from the ER.
2021.09.14.460330v1.full_.pdf
2016
Huajin Wang, Michel Becuwe, Benjamin E Housden, Chandramohan Chitraju, Ashley J Porras, Morven M Graham, Xinran N Liu, Abdou Rachid Thiam, David B Savage, Anil K Agarwal, Abhimanyu Garg, Maria-Jesus Olarte, Qingqing Lin, Florian Fröhlich, Hans Kristian Hannibal-Bach, Srigokul Upadhyayula, Norbert Perrimon, Tomas Kirchhausen, Christer S Ejsing, Tobias C Walther, and Robert V Farese. 2016. “Seipin is required for converting nascent to mature lipid droplets.” Elife, 5.Abstract

How proteins control the biogenesis of cellular lipid droplets (LDs) is poorly understood. Using Drosophila and human cells, we show here that seipin, an ER protein implicated in LD biology, mediates a discrete step in LD formation-the conversion of small, nascent LDs to larger, mature LDs. Seipin forms discrete and dynamic foci in the ER that interact with nascent LDs to enable their growth. In the absence of seipin, numerous small, nascent LDs accumulate near the ER and most often fail to grow. Those that do grow prematurely acquire lipid synthesis enzymes and undergo expansion, eventually leading to the giant LDs characteristic of seipin deficiency. Our studies identify a discrete step of LD formation, namely the conversion of nascent LDs to mature LDs, and define a molecular role for seipin in this process, most likely by acting at ER-LD contact sites to enable lipid transfer to nascent LDs.

2013
Katharina Thiel, Christoph Heier, Verena Haberl, Peter J Thul, Monika Oberer, Achim Lass, Herbert Jäckle, and Mathias Beller. 2013. “The evolutionarily conserved protein CG9186 is associated with lipid droplets, required for their positioning and for fat storage.” J Cell Sci, 126, Pt 10, Pp. 2198-212.Abstract

Lipid droplets (LDs) are specialized cell organelles for the storage of energy-rich lipids. Although lipid storage is a conserved feature of all cells and organisms, little is known about fundamental aspects of the cell biology of LDs, including their biogenesis, structural assembly and subcellular positioning, and the regulation of organismic energy homeostasis. We identified a novel LD-associated protein family, represented by the Drosophila protein CG9186 and its murine homolog MGI:1916082. In the absence of LDs, both proteins localize at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Upon lipid storage induction, they translocate to LDs using an evolutionarily conserved targeting mechanism that acts through a 60-amino-acid targeting motif in the center of the CG9186 protein. Overexpression of CG9186, and MGI:1916082, causes clustering of LDs in both tissue culture and salivary gland cells, whereas RNAi knockdown of CG9186 results in a reduction of LDs. Organismal RNAi knockdown of CG9186 results in a reduction in lipid storage levels of the fly. The results indicate that we identified the first members of a novel and evolutionarily conserved family of lipid storage regulators, which are also required to properly position LDs within cells.

2013_J Cell Sci_Theil.pdf Supplement.pdf
2008
Mathias Beller, Carole Sztalryd, Noel Southall, Ming Bell, Herbert Jäckle, Douglas S Auld, and Brian Oliver. 2008. “COPI complex is a regulator of lipid homeostasis.” PLoS Biol, 6, 11, Pp. e292.Abstract

Lipid droplets are ubiquitous triglyceride and sterol ester storage organelles required for energy storage homeostasis and biosynthesis. Although little is known about lipid droplet formation and regulation, it is clear that members of the PAT (perilipin, adipocyte differentiation related protein, tail interacting protein of 47 kDa) protein family coat the droplet surface and mediate interactions with lipases that remobilize the stored lipids. We identified key Drosophila candidate genes for lipid droplet regulation by RNA interference (RNAi) screening with an image segmentation-based optical read-out system, and show that these regulatory functions are conserved in the mouse. Those include the vesicle-mediated Coat Protein Complex I (COPI) transport complex, which is required for limiting lipid storage. We found that COPI components regulate the PAT protein composition at the lipid droplet surface, and promote the association of adipocyte triglyceride lipase (ATGL) with the lipid droplet surface to mediate lipolysis. Two compounds known to inhibit COPI function, Exo1 and Brefeldin A, phenocopy COPI knockdowns. Furthermore, RNAi inhibition of ATGL and simultaneous drug treatment indicate that COPI and ATGL function in the same pathway. These data indicate that the COPI complex is an evolutionarily conserved regulator of lipid homeostasis, and highlight an interaction between vesicle transport systems and lipid droplets.

2008_PLOSBio_Beller.pdf Supp. Info.pdf Supplemental Tables.zip