title: Lipid bodies in inflammatory cells: structure, function, and current imaging techniques.
abstract: Lipid bodies (LBs), also known as lipid droplets, have increasingly been recognized as functionally active organelles linked to diverse biological functions and human diseases. These organelles are actively formed in vivo within cells from the immune system, such as macrophages, neutrophils, and eosinophils, in response to different inflammatory conditions and are sites for synthesis and storage of inflammatory mediators. In this review, the authors discuss structural and functional aspects of LBs and current imaging techniques to visualize these organelles in cells engaged in inflammatory processes, including infectious diseases. The dynamic morphological aspects of LBs in leukocytes as inducible, newly formable organelles, elicitable in response to stimuli that lead to cellular activation, contribute to the evolving understanding of LBs as organelles that are critical regulators of different inflammatory diseases, key markers of leukocyte activation, and attractive targets for novel anti-inflammatory therapies.
authors: Laboratory of Cellular Biology, Department of Biology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil. rossana.melo@ufjf.edu.br
authors: Rossana C N
authors: RC
authors: Melo
authors: Heloisa
authors: H
authors: D'Avila
authors: Hsiao-Ching
authors: HC
authors: Wan
authors: Patrícia T
authors: PT
authors: Bozza
authors: Ann M
authors: AM
authors: Dvorak
authors: Peter F
authors: PF
authors: Weller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000378:metabolism; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D015388:Organelles / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018836:Inflammation Mediators