Lipid Bodies in Inflammatory Cells

Abstract

Lipid bodies (LBs), also known as lipid droplets, have increasingly been recognized as functionally active organelles linked to diverse biological functions and human diseases. These organelles are actively formed in vivo within cells from the immune system, such as macrophages, neutrophils, and eosinophils, in response to different inflammatory conditions and are sites for synthesis and storage of inflammatory mediators. In this review, the authors discuss structural and functional aspects of LBs and current imaging techniques to visualize these organelles in cells engaged in inflammatory processes, including infectious diseases. The dynamic morphological aspects of LBs in leukocytes as inducible, newly formable organelles, elicitable in response to stimuli that lead to cellular activation, contribute to the evolving understanding of LBs as organelles that are critical regulators of different inflammatory diseases, key markers of leukocyte activation, and attractive targets for novel anti-inflammatory therapies.

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“…In immune cells, such as macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, LBs are actively formed in response to inflammatory stimuli and provide a milieu for synthesis and storage of inflammatory mediators (Melo et al, 2011). During pre-implantation embryo development, within the same developmental stage, LBs acquire specific numbers and positioning according to the embryo's state (Kyvelidou et al, 2011).…”

Lipid body accumulation alters calcium signaling dynamics in immune cells

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