Phosphoinositides are signalling lipids derived from phosphatidylinositol, a ubiquitous phospholipid in the cytoplasmic leaflet of eukaryotic membranes. Initially discovered for their roles in cell signalling, phosphoinositides are now widely recognized as key integrators of membrane dynamics that broadly impact on all aspects of cell physiology and on disease. The past decade has witnessed a vast expansion of our knowledge of phosphoinositide biology. On the endocytic and exocytic routes, phosphoinositides direct the inward and outward flow of membrane as vesicular traffic is coupled to the conversion of phosphoinositides. Moreover, recent findings on the roles of phosphoinositides in autophagy and the endolysosomal system challenge our view of lysosome biology. The non-vesicular exchange of lipids, ions and metabolites at membrane contact sites in between organelles has also been found to depend on phosphoinositides. Here we review our current understanding of how phosphoinositides shape and direct membrane dynamics to impact on cell physiology, and provide an overview of emerging concepts in phosphoinositide regulation.

磷酸肌醇是源自磷脂酰肌醇的信号脂质，磷脂酰肌醇是真核细胞膜细胞质小叶中普遍存在的磷脂。磷酸肌醇最初因其在细胞信号传导中的作用而被发现，现在被广泛认为是膜动力学的关键整合因子，广泛影响细胞生理学和疾病的各个方面。过去十年见证了我们对磷酸肌醇生物学知识的巨大扩展。在胞吞和胞吐途径上，磷酸肌醇指导膜的向内和向外流动，因为囊泡交通与磷酸肌醇的转化相结合。此外，最近关于磷酸肌醇在自噬和内溶酶体系统中的作用的发现挑战了我们对溶酶体生物学的看法。脂质的非囊泡交换，还发现细胞器之间膜接触部位的离子和代谢物依赖于磷酸肌醇。在这里，我们回顾了我们目前对磷酸肌醇如何塑造和指导膜动力学影响细胞生理学的理解，并概述了磷酸肌醇调节中的新兴概念。