Fatty acylation is a widespread form of protein modification that occurs on specific intracellular and secreted proteins. Beyond increasing hydrophobicity and the affinity of the modified protein for lipid bilayers, covalent attachment of a fatty acid exerts effects on protein localization, inter- and intramolecular interactions and signal transduction. As such, research into protein fatty acylation has been embraced by an extensive community of biologists. This special issue highlights advances at the forefront of the field, by focusing on two families of enzymes that catalyse post-translational protein fatty acylation, zDHHC palmitoyl acyltransferases and membrane-bound O-acyl transferases, and signalling pathways regulated by their fatty acylated protein substrates. The collected contributions catalogue the tremendous progress that has been made in enzyme and substrate identification. In addition, articles in this special issue provide insights into the pivotal functions of fatty acylated proteins in immune cell, insulin and EGF receptor-mediated signalling pathways. As selective inhibitors of protein fatty acyltransferases are generated, the future holds great promise for therapeutic targeting of fatty acyltransferases that play key roles in human disease.

脂肪酰化是一种广泛的蛋白质修饰形式，发生在特定的细胞内和分泌的蛋白质上。除了增加修饰蛋白对脂质双层的疏水性和亲和力之外，脂肪酸的共价连接还对蛋白质定位、分子间和分子内相互作用以及信号转导产生影响。因此，蛋白质脂肪酰化的研究已受到广大生物学家的欢迎。本期特刊重点关注催化翻译后蛋白质脂肪酰化的两个酶家族（zDHHC 棕榈酰酰基转移酶和膜结合 O-酰基转移酶）以及由其脂肪酰化蛋白质底物调节的信号通路，重点介绍该领域的前沿进展。收集的贡献记录了酶和底物鉴定方面取得的巨大进展。此外，本期特刊中的文章深入探讨了脂肪酰化蛋白在免疫细胞、胰岛素和 EGF 受体介导的信号通路中的关键功能。随着蛋白质脂肪酰基转移酶的选择性抑制剂的产生，未来对于在人类疾病中发挥关键作用的脂肪酰基转移酶的治疗靶向具有广阔的前景。