Reconstitution of lipid droplet function

Project leader: Thiele

Lipid droplets are the intracellular organelles that store neutral lipids such as fats. Our project aims at the production of synthetic lipid droplets from purified components, the study of their basic structural and biophysical parameters, and the reconstitution of their major metabolic pathways. Furthermore, we want to understand the organization of biosynthetic lipid flow that serves to produce the droplet neutral lipid core. Specifically, we aim to find the transport pathway that brings diacylglycerol from the endoplasmic reticulum to the lipid droplet, where it is converted to the final storage substance, fat.