Lipid droplets (LDs) are ubiquitous fat storage organelles composed of a neutral lipid core, comprising triacylglycerols (TAG) and sterol esters (SEs), surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer membrane with several decorating proteins. Recently, LD biology has come to the foreground of research due to their importance for energy homeostasis and cellular stress response. As aberrant LD accumulation and lipid depletion are hallmarks of numerous diseases, addressing LD biogenesis and turnover provides a new framework for understanding disease-related mechanisms. Here we discuss the potential role of LDs in neurodegeneration, while making some predictions on how LD imbalance can contribute to pathophysiology in the brain.

脂质小滴（LDs）是无处不在的脂肪储存细胞器，由中性脂质核心组成，包含三酰基甘油（TAG）和固醇酯（SEs），周围环绕着磷脂单层膜和几种修饰蛋白。近年来，LD生物学因其对能量稳态和细胞应激反应的重要性而成为研究的热点。由于LD的异常积累和脂质消耗是许多疾病的标志，因此解决LD的生物发生和更新为了解疾病相关机制提供了新的框架。在这里，我们讨论了LDs在神经变性中的潜在作用，同时对LD不平衡如何有助于大脑的病理生理做出了一些预测。