AUTHOR=Sánchez-Álvarez Miguel , del Pozo Miguel Ángel , Bosch Marta , Pol Albert TITLE=Insights Into the Biogenesis and Emerging Functions of Lipid Droplets From Unbiased Molecular Profiling Approaches JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2022.901321 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2022.901321 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Lipid droplets (LDs) are spherical, single sheet phospholipid-bound organelles that store neutral lipids in all eukaryotes and some prokaryotes. Initially conceived as relatively inert depots for energy and lipid precursors, these highly dynamic structures play active roles in homeostatic functions beyond metabolism, such as proteostasis and protein turnover, innate immunity and defense. A major share of the knowledge behind this paradigm shift has been enabled by the use of systematic molecular profiling approaches, capable of revealing and describing these non-intuitive systems-level relationships. Here, we discuss these advances and some of the challenges they entail, and highlight standing questions in the field.