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Cell biology

Another way to get rid of fat

Nature volume 458, pages 1118–1119 (2009)Cite this article

When starved, cells resort to breaking down their assets — proteins, lipids and even whole organelles. An investigation of lipid metabolism indicates that one process — autophagy — targets all three cellular components.

Fatty acids are essential to all organisms — as substrates for energy production, as precursors of membrane lipids and as signalling molecules that control various cellular processes, including gene expression. They are stored as triglycerides in highly dynamic organelles called lipid droplets1 and, when necessary, are re-released by the process of lipolysis. Established models of lipid storage and breakdown have undergone substantial revision in recent years. The latest adjustment is offered by Singh et al.2 (page 1131 of this issue): their spectacular findings suggest that autophagy, the pathway by which excess or damaged organelles and proteins are degraded3, also mediates fat mobilization and breakdown in liver cells (hepatocytes).

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Figure 1: Lipolysis and autophagy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rudolf Zechner and Frank Madeo are at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Graz 8010, Austria. rudolf.zechner@uni-graz.at ,

    Rudolf Zechner & Frank Madeo

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  1. Rudolf Zechner
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  2. Frank Madeo
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Zechner, R., Madeo, F. Another way to get rid of fat. Nature 458, 1118–1119 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/4581118a

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