Cellular lipid metabolism and homeostasis are controlled by sterol regulatory-element binding proteins (SREBPs). In addition to performing canonical functions in the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in the biosynthesis and uptake of lipids, genome-wide system analyses have revealed that these versatile transcription factors act as important nodes of convergence and divergence within biological signalling networks. Thus, they are involved in myriad physiological and pathophysiological processes, highlighting the importance of lipid metabolism in biology. Changes in cell metabolism and growth are reciprocally linked through SREBPs. Anabolic and growth signalling pathways branch off and connect to multiple steps of SREBP activation and form complex regulatory networks. In addition, SREBPs are implicated in numerous pathogenic processes such as endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammation, autophagy and apoptosis, and in this way, they contribute to obesity, dyslipidaemia, diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, chronic kidney disease, neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. This Review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of SREBPs in physiology and pathophysiology at the cell, organ and organism levels.

细胞脂质代谢和体内平衡受固醇调节元素结合蛋白（SREBPs）的控制。除了在参与生物合成和脂质吸收的基因的转录调控中执行规范功能外，全基因组系统分析还揭示了这些通用转录因子在生物信号网络中是收敛和发散的重要节点。因此，它们参与了无数的生理和病理生理过程，突显了脂质代谢在生物学中的重要性。细胞代谢和生长的变化通过SREBP相互关联。合成代谢和生长信号通路分支并连接到SREBP激活的多个步骤，并形成复杂的调控网络。此外，SREBPs参与许多致病过程，例如内质网应激，炎症，自噬和细胞凋亡，因此，它们导致肥胖，血脂异常，糖尿病，非酒精性脂肪肝疾病，非酒精性脂肪性肝炎，慢性肾脏病，神经退行性疾病和癌症。本综述旨在在细胞，器官和生物体水平上全面了解SREBP在生理学和病理生理学中的作用。