Lipid Droplets Grease Enterovirus Replication

Lipid droplets

OK, they are cute, but why should a developmental biologist care about them? Onset of calcification early in ontogeny coupled with gradual, progressive morphological development permits the recognition of growth sequences for over a hundred trilobite species. Striking variation in the number of trunk segments at maturity across ontogeny and phylogeny, coupled with the curious pattern of segment...

Less Grease, Please. Phosphatidylethanolamine Is the Only Lipid Required for Replication of a (+)RNA Virus

All positive strand RNA viruses of eukaryotes replicate their genomes in association with membranes. These viruses actively change cellular lipid metabolism to build replication membranes enriched in specific lipids. The ubiquitous use of membranes by positive strand RNA viruses apparently holds major evolutionary advantages; however our understanding of the mechanistic role of membranes, let a...

Lipid droplets go nuclear

Lipid droplets (LDs) are sometimes found in the nucleus of some cells. In this issue, Ohsaki et al. (2016. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201507122) show that the nuclear membrane, promyelocytic leukemia bodies, and the protein PML-II play a role in nuclear LD formation, suggesting functional relationships between these structures.

Supersized lipid droplets

Helping an axon go long A developing neuron has to decide where to grow its axon. Witte et al. show that the choice requires an overlooked ingredient: stable microtubules. As a neuron matures, it sprouts several projections, or neurites. One neurite continues to lengthen and becomes an axon, while the others become dendrites. Although researchers have probed how actin promotes this process, the...

SnapShot: Lipid Droplets