Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36807572›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Cholesterol esters form supercooled lipid droplets whose nucleation is facilitated by triacylglycerols.

Calvin Dumesnil, Lauri Vanharanta, Xavier Prasanna, Mohyeddine Omrane, Maxime Carpentier, Apoorva Bhapkar, Giray Enkavi, Veijo T Salo, Ilpo Vattulainen, Elina Ikonen and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed
11.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  5. Heterogeneity, dynamics and organelle interactions of lipid droplets.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. 27-Hydroxycholesterol in cancer development and drug resistance.Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
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  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.

Calvin Dumesnil *Laboratoire de Physique de l'École normale supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, F-75005, Paris, France.
Lauri Vanharanta *Department of Anatomy and Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-7902-0009
Xavier Prasanna *Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0003-2270-5493
Mohyeddine OmraneLaboratoire de Physique de l'École normale supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, F-75005, Paris, France.
Maxime CarpentierLaboratoire de Physique de l'École normale supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, F-75005, Paris, France.
Apoorva BhapkarLaboratoire de Physique de l'École normale supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, F-75005, Paris, France.
Giray EnkaviDepartment of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0001-5033-8649
Veijo T SaloDepartment of Anatomy and Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Ilpo VattulainenDepartment of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. ilpo.vattulainen@helsinki.fi.ORCID 0000-0001-7408-3214
Elina IkonenDepartment of Anatomy and Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. elina.ikonen@helsinki.fi.ORCID 0000-0001-8382-1135
Abdou Rachid ThiamLaboratoire de Physique de l'École normale supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, F-75005, Paris, France. thiam@ens.fr.
University of Helsinki · FICentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cellular cholesterol can be metabolized to its fatty acid esters, cholesteryl esters (CEs), to be stored in lipid droplets (LDs). With triacylglycerols (TGs), CEs represent the main neutral lipids in LDs. However, while TG melts at ~4 °C, CE melts at ~44 °C, raising the question of how CE-rich LDs form in cells. Here, we show that CE forms supercooled droplets when the CE concentration in LDs is above 20% to TG and, in particular, liquid-crystalline phases when the fraction of CEs is above 90% at 37 °C. In model bilayers, CEs condense and nucleate droplets when the CE/phospholipid ratio reaches over 10-15%. This concentration is reduced by TG pre-clusters in the membrane that thereby facilitate CE nucleation. Accordingly, blocking TG synthesis in cells is sufficient to strongly dampen CE LD nucleation. Finally, CE LDs emerged at seipins, which cluster and nucleate TG LDs in the ER. However, when TG synthesis is inhibited, similar numbers of LDs are generated in the presence and absence of seipin, suggesting that seipin controls CE LD formation via its TG clustering capacity. Our data point to a unique model whereby TG pre-clusters, favorable at seipins, catalyze the nucleation of CE LDs.

Indexed as

Cholesterol EstersLipid DropletsCholesterolTriglyceridesCholesterolCholesterol EstersTriglycerides

Identifiers

PMID36807572
PMCPMC9938224
OpenAlexW4321213545

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.