Are lipid droplets the picnic basket of brain tumours?

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Are lipid droplets (LDs) necessary to maintain the viability of brain tumour cells as they move to new nutrient-poor environments? In turn, could cancers be targeted by attacking what you might think of as the cancer cells’ picnic basket? Lipid metabolism reprogramming, represented by increased lipid uptake, activation of de novo lipogenesis and increased lipid storage, is a newly identified hallmark of cancers. Recently, the presence of lipid droplets has been detected in several types of cancers, such as metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, pancreatic and breast. LDs are storage organelles that provide a source of nutrients which may drive metastasis in different tumours. Currently, several roles of LDs have been posited in various tumours. This perspective aims to review and discuss the currently understood role of LDs in brain tumours.

Original languageEnglish
Article number31
JournalCell Death Discovery
Volume10
Issue number1
Early online date16 Jan 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, The Author(s).

Funding

This work was funded by a summer scholarship from the British Pharmacological Society to T. B. Also, it was funded by a grant from the Little Princes Trust (LPT2023A22) and a startup grant from the University of Bath to M.V.N-C.

FundersFunder number
British Pharmacological Society
University of Bath
Little Princess TrustLPT2023A22

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Immunology
    • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
    • Cell Biology
    • Cancer Research

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