Lipids act as building blocks for all cellular membranes and as key energy carriers. Neutral storage lipids are packaged into specialized organelles termed Lipid Droplets (LDs). LDs dynamically respond to the metabolic state of the cell, and undergo cycles of de novo biogenesis, growth, shrinkage, and consumption. How these processes are mediated on a molecular level is a key objective of the LD field. The yeast Lipid Droplet Organization (LDO) proteins and the human promethin/TMEM159/LDAF1 are newly identified molecular players involved in different aspects of the life cycle of LDs. These factors show remote homology to each other, and are physically and functionally linked to seipin, a central component in LD formation and adipogenesis.

脂质充当所有细胞膜的构建块和关键的能量载体。中性储存脂质被包装成称为脂滴 (LD) 的特殊细胞器。LDs 动态响应细胞的代谢状态，并经历从头生物发生、生长、收缩和消耗的循环。如何在分子水平上介导这些过程是 LD 领域的一个关键目标。酵母脂质液滴组织 (LDO) 蛋白和人类 promethin/TMEM159/LDAF1 是新发现的参与 LD 生命周期不同方面的分子参与者。这些因素显示出彼此的远距离同源性，并且在物理和功能上与 seipin 相关，seipin 是 LD 形成和脂肪生成的核心成分。