+Search query
-Structure paper
| Title | Lipid droplets promote aberrant liquid-liquid phase separation of alpha-synuclein impairing energy homeostasis. |
|---|---|
| Journal, issue, pages | EMBO Rep, Year 2026 |
| Publish date | Jul 2, 2026 |
Authors | Jose Cevallos / Elena Eubanks / Sunghoo Jung / Yiming Huang / Elyse Guadagno / Nora Jaber / Yuzhou Xia / Jinying Wang / Huan Wang / Neeharika Rao Suvvari / Aryan Doshi / Nitya Ravinutala / Alejandro Mosera / Timothy Hsu / Jiya Mody / Benjamin Sacks / Anvi Narayan / Breanna Smith / Maia Wang / Meghana Gottapu / Heba Alnakhala / Nagendran Ramalingam / Arati Tripathi / Tim Bartels / Ulf Dettmer / Zheng Shi / Wei Dai / Eleanna Kara / ![]() |
| PubMed Abstract | Alpha-synuclein (αSyn) inclusions are a defining neuropathological feature of Parkinson's disease, but the cellular events that initiate their formation and promote neurotoxicity remain incompletely ...Alpha-synuclein (αSyn) inclusions are a defining neuropathological feature of Parkinson's disease, but the cellular events that initiate their formation and promote neurotoxicity remain incompletely understood. Aberrant liquid-liquid phase separation has emerged as a potential early step in αSyn dysregulation, yet the physiological triggers and functional consequences of this process are unclear. Here, we show that lipid droplets promote the spontaneous phase separation of wild-type and E46K mutant αSyn into condensates. These condensates sequester lipid droplets and impair their turnover, indicating disruption of cellular lipid homeostasis. Mitochondria in close proximity to αSyn condensates exhibit reduced membrane potential and increased mitophagy. Correlative light and electron microscopy further reveals αSyn oligomers associated with mitochondrial membranes displaying structural abnormalities. Together, these findings identify lipid droplets as drivers of aberrant αSyn phase separation and suggest that lipid droplet-rich condensates contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired energy homeostasis. Given the enrichment of lipid droplets within neuromelanin-containing dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, this mechanism may be relevant to the selective neuronal vulnerability observed in Parkinson's disease. |
External links | EMBO Rep / PubMed:42393234 |
| Methods | EM (tomography) |
| Structure data | ![]() EMDB-76979: Cryo-ET of mitochondrial membrane in direct interaction with alpha-synuclein exhibiting membrane morphological distortion ![]() EMDB-76980: Supplemental: irregularly shaped mitochondria interacting with alpha-synuclein ![]() EMDB-76981: Supplemental: alpha-synuclein oligomers on the surface of a mitochondrial membrane ![]() EMDB-76983: Supplemental: mitochondria not associated with alpha-synuclein |
| Source |
|
Movie
Controller
Structure viewers
About Yorodumi Papers



Authors

External links



Homo sapiens (human)