Textbook knowledge tells us that lipid droplets are the most efficient and safe way to store lipid as an energy reserve. Consistent with this view, lipid droplets have been viewed as storage for lipids that are mobilized at times of energy deficit in a process called lipolysis. In this study, on the other hand, ADIPOSIGN members asked the question to which extent lipolysis is acutely affecting gene regulation.
“We found that 324 genes are acutely upregulated by direct stimulation of lipolysis. Using machine-learning algorithms to infer how lipolysis signals to the genome, we demonstrated that acute activation of lipolysis activates a tremendous amount of different transcription factors, indicating that stimulation of lipolysis is a pleiotropic signaling hub in adipocytes”, says ADIPOSIGN Post.doc. Lasse Kruse Markussen from Mandrup Lab at University of Southern Denmark.
Thus, besides its powerful role as an energy substrate, lipolysis is directly involved in intracellular signaling and acute regulation of gene transcription. The work on lipolysis is published in Nature Communications.