Retinyl esters form lipid droplets independently of triacylglycerol and seipin

Martijn R Molenaar, Kamlesh K Yadav, Alexandre Toulmay, Tsjerk A Wassenaar, Muriel C Mari, Lucie Caillon, Aymeric Chorlay, Ivan E Lukmantara, Maya W Haaker, Richard W Wubbolts, Martin Houweling, Arie Bas Vaandrager, Xavier Prieur, Fulvio Reggiori, Vineet Choudhary, Hongyuan Yang, Roger Schneiter, Abdou Rachid Thiam, William A Prinz, J Bernd Helms

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Lipid droplets store neutral lipids, primarily triacylglycerol and steryl esters. Seipin plays a role in lipid droplet biogenesis and is thought to determine the site of lipid droplet biogenesis and the size of newly formed lipid droplets. Here we show a seipin-independent pathway of lipid droplet biogenesis. In silico and in vitro experiments reveal that retinyl esters have the intrinsic propensity to sequester and nucleate in lipid bilayers. Production of retinyl esters in mammalian and yeast cells that do not normally produce retinyl esters causes the formation of lipid droplets, even in a yeast strain that produces only retinyl esters and no other neutral lipids. Seipin does not determine the size or biogenesis site of lipid droplets composed of only retinyl esters or steryl esters. These findings indicate that the role of seipin in lipid droplet biogenesis depends on the type of neutral lipid stored in forming droplets.

Original languageEnglish
Article number202011071
Number of pages21
JournalThe Journal of Cell Biology
Volume220
Issue number10
Early online date7-Jul-2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4-Oct-2021

Keywords

  • HEPATIC STELLATE CELLS
  • COARSE-GRAINED MODEL
  • ENDOPLASMIC-RETICULUM
  • FATTY-ACID
  • BIOGENESIS
  • JUNCTIONS
  • PROTEINS
  • LECITHIN
  • REVERSE
  • STORAGE

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