Frontiers in Physiology (Nov 2024)

Molecular mechanisms of lipid droplets-mitochondria coupling in obesity and metabolic syndrome: insights and pharmacological implications

  • Chunmei Zhang,
  • Mingxuan Zheng,
  • Runlin Bai,
  • Jiale Chen,
  • Hong Yang,
  • Gan Luo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1491815
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

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Abnormal lipid accumulation is a fundamental contributor to obesity and metabolic disorders. Lipid droplets (LDs) and mitochondria (MT) serve as organelle chaperones in lipid metabolism and energy balance. LDs play a crucial role in lipid storage and mobilization, working in conjunction with MT to regulate lipid metabolism within the liver, brown adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle, thereby maintaining metabolic homeostasis. The novelty of our review is the comprehensive description of LD and MT interaction mechanisms. We also focus on the current drugs that target this metabolism, which provide novel approaches for obesity and related metabolism disorder treatment.

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