Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process that delivers intracellular proteins and organelles to the lysosome for degradation and recycling. Evidences over the past decades have proved that autophagy participates in cell fate decision and also plays a key role in regulating cellular energy and nutrient stores. Lipid droplets (LDs) are the main lipid storage form in living organisms. The process of autophagic degradation of LDs is referred to lipophagy or macrolipophagy. Lipophagy is not only indispensable for the cellular lipid metabolism but also closely associated with several metabolic disorders such as obesity, hepatic steatosis, atherosclerosis, and so on. Here, we summarize recent progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of lipophagy regulation and the emerging roles of lipophagy in various biological processes and metabolic disorders.
Keywords: Autophagy; Lipid droplet; Lipid metabolism; Lipophagy; Metabolic disorder.