Lipids articles within Nature

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  • Letter |

    Adult neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs) show high levels of fatty acid synthase (Fasn)-dependent de novo lipogenesis, a process that is controlled by Spot14 to regulate the rate of proliferation; this indicates a functional coupling between the regulation of lipid metabolism and adult NSPC proliferation.

    • Marlen Knobloch
    • , Simon M. G. Braun
    •  & Sebastian Jessberger

  • News & Views |

    Western-style diets could be contributing to the rapid increase in inflammatory bowel disease. New research suggests that dietary fat can alter bile composition and so favour the growth of pro-inflammatory gut microbes. See Letter p.104

    • Peter J. Turnbaugh

  • News |

    A study tracking cholesterol movement within membranes suggests that it travels more slowly than expected.

    • Nic Fleming

  • Letter |

    Lipid asymmetry can be disrupted during biological processes such as apoptosis, during which phosphatidylserine in the inner leaflet of the membrane is exposed on the outer membrane. It has been proposed that activation of a phospholipid scramblase catalyses bidirectional transbilayer movement of phospholipids, but the protein corresponding to this activity has not been identified. Here, the protein TMEM16F is identified, and is an essential component for the Ca2+-dependent exposure of phosphatidylserine on the plasma membrane. A patient with Scott syndrome, which results from a defect in phospholipid scrambling activity, was found to carry a mutation in the gene encoding TMEM16F.

    • Jun Suzuki
    • , Masato Umeda
    •  & Shigekazu Nagata

  • News & Views |

    What is the new gold standard for genome-wide association studies? As exemplified by analyses of blood lipids, it is collaboration to amass huge sample sizes and functional studies of the genes identified.

    • Alan R. Shuldiner
    •  & Toni I. Pollin

  • Letter |

    Engagement of the tumour-necrosis factor (TNF) receptor results in the assembly of multi-component signalling complexes by adaptor proteins that include TNF receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2). Genetic evidence indicates that TRAF2 is needed for the polyubiquitination of receptor interacting protein 1 (RIP1), but direct evidence has been lacking. Here it is shown that the lipid sphingosine-1-phosphate is a co-factor needed for this ubiquitination activity of TRAF2.

    • Sergio E. Alvarez
    • , Kuzhuvelil B. Harikumar
    •  & Sarah Spiegel

  • Brief Communications Arising |

    • Julia Fischer
    • , Linda Koch
    •  & Ulrich Rüther

  • Letter |

    During atherosclerosis, crystals of cholesterol accumulate in atherosclerotic plaques. But are they a consequence or a cause of the inflammation associated with the disease? Here it is shown that small cholesterol crystals appear early in the development of atherosclerosis, and that they act as an endogenous danger signal, causing inflammation by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. Cholesterol crystals thus seem to be an early cause, rather than a late consequence, of inflammation.

    • Peter Duewell
    • , Hajime Kono
    •  & Eicke Latz

  • Letter |

    VEGF–B is shown to have an unexpected role in targeting lipids to peripheral tissues. VEGF–B controls endothelial uptake of fatty acids via transcriptional regulation of vascular fatty acid transport proteins. Bioinformatic analyses suggest that the uptake of these lipids is tightly coupled with lipid use by mitochondria. Mice that do not have VEGF–B accumulate less lipids in muscle, heart and brown adipose tissue, and instead shunt them to white adipose tissue.

    • Carolina E. Hagberg
    • , Annelie Falkevall
    •  & Ulf Eriksson

  • Article |

    Mutations near the ORMDL3 gene have been associated with childhood asthma. Here, in yeast, Orm proteins are shown to function in sphingolipid homeostasis; alterations in this control result in misregulation of sphingolipid production and accumulation of toxic metabolites. This raises the testable hypothesis that misregulation of sphingolipids may directly contribute to the development of asthma.

    • David K. Breslow
    • , Sean R. Collins
    •  & Jonathan S. Weissman

  • Brief Communications Arising |

    • Sophie Brinster
    • , Gilles Lamberet
    •  & Claire Poyart

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