Lipid droplets as metabolic determinants for stemness and chemoresistance in cancer

Figure 2 Features of cells with high content of lipid droplets. Cells with high lipid droplets (LD) content show activation of different signalling pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin, Hippo/Yes-associated protein, Notch, Hedgehog and PPARs/PGC-1α. Increased LD content has been linked to aggressive phenotypes in tumour cells, such as stemness, tumorigenicity, migration and invasion, metabolic plasticity and chemoresistance. LD: Lipid droplets; PGC-1α: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha; PPARs: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors; YAP: Yes-associated protein.