The role of lipid droplets in the steroid hormone synthesis in MLTC-1 mouse Leydig tumor cells.

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Lipid droplets (LDs) are functional subcellular organelles involved in multiple intracellular processes. Although LDs are found in nearly all types of eukaryotic cells, their properties are highly variable among tissues.Steroidogenic cells normally accumulate numerous small cytosolic LDs, but the profiles of LD-associated proteins and the biological significance of these remains unclear. I found that LD fraction from mouse leydig tumor (MLTC-1) cells, abundantly contains the enzymes for steroidogenesis, especially 3beta-HSD1 and 17beta-HSD11 and the activation of steroidgenesis by luteinizing hormone (LH) caused drastic change in morphology of LDs. Upon stimulation, perinuclear LDs are changed into relatively nascent LDs and possibly fused to ER. I next studied about the LDs of HL-60-derived neutrophils and found that perilipin-3 (PLIN3) has a pivotal role in LD-biogenesis, and that PLIN3 is associated with the synthesis and secretion of PGE2.