Nuclear Lipids and Cell Fate

Lipids are known not only as components of cell membranes but also as part of the nuclear fraction. In the nucleus lipids are present with a specific composition and metabolism and their behaviour, in different physiological and pathological conditions, is completely independent from that of the cell membrane. The nuclear lipid fraction is constituted by glycerolphospholipids, sphingolipid and cholesterol which have an active metabolism thanks to the presence of lipid enzymes responsible for their synthesis and catabolism. Nuclear lipid metabolites are in equilibrium when the cells are resting whereas, when the cells are submitted to various stimuli, they interact in different ways in relation to cell type and localization: nuclear membrane, nuclear matrix and chromatin, playing different structural and/or functional roles. The focus of this mini-review is to highlight the implications of nuclear lipid metabolism on the cell fate regulation when a proliferative or apoptotic stimulus is applied. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________