Fat reservoirs within cancer cells help them strive in times of stress

What is it about?

Cancer cells are incredibly resilient to various stresses in their environment and this is critical for tumour growth and metastasis. We show here that highly aggressive breast cancer cells take up fats from their environment and store them in special storage organelles called lipid droplets. We found that lipid droplets have two major roles in breast cancer cells: they protect cells from fat overload, which is toxic to most cells, and they provide fat for energy production in times of need.

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Why is it important?

Our findings add to a growing number of studies showing that fats are used by cancer cells to overcome nutrient and oxygen imbalances. Moreover, cancer cells store fat by themselves in special "reservoirs" (lipid droplets), thereby promoting their independence of other food sources and enabling survival during prolonged periods of nutrient deprivation. Our study is particularly important because it highlights lipid droplets as crucial organelles that empower cancer cells with the ability to use and strive on various sources and types of fat.

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