Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
m
3
/min. The LD fusion pair in cell expressing Fsp27-GFP and HA-Plin1
together (lower panel) contained a donor LD of 2.6
0.11
m
m
3
m in diameter (9.2
in
m
m
volume) and an acceptor LD of 5.4
m in diameter. The fusion event took 40 min
with an average lipid transfer rate of 0.23
m
m
3
/min.
m
CONCLUSIONS
LD growth in adipocytes plays a central role in the development of obesity and the
sizes of LDs are correlated with insulin sensitivity, inflammatory response, and hyp-
oxia response. It is therefore crucial to develop reliable and quantitative methods to
measure LD growth in adipocytes and nonadipocytes. Using microscopic imaging
technology, we have developed several simple, reliable, and quantitative assays to
measure LD sizes, Fsp27-mediated lipid exchange, and LD fusion in nonadipocytes
and adipocytes. All these methods have been used to evaluate the role of CIDE pro-
teins, in particular Fsp27, in controlling LD growth. Similar techniques can be used
to quantify LD growth promoted by other factors in many cell types.
Acknowledgments
We thank members of Peng Li's laboratory for helpful discussion. This work was supported by
grants (2013CB530602 to P. L.) from the National Basic Research Program of Minster of
Science and Technology of China; and (30925017 and 31030038 to P. L.) from the National
Natural Science Foundation of China.
References
