A photo of the research paper published in Science Bulletin. [Photo/WeChat account of Biophysical Society of China]

Recently, a research team from the Institute of Biophysics, in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a paper entitled "Identification of noncoding RNA-encoded proteins on lipid droplets" in the journal Science Bulletin.

The research paper outlines new methods developed by the team that break the traditional lipid droplet proteomic paradigm. It utilizes a novel proteomic approach to identify a number of novel lipid droplet proteins translated by non-coding RNA in skeletal muscle cells -- and finds that one of these proteins can regulate lipid droplet morphology and influence triglyceride storage and insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle cells.

If the current proteomic approach has ever opened a door for the study of lipid droplet biology, then this analysis of lipid droplet proteomes with new ideas and methods opens a window into the study of lipid droplet proteins. The discovery of non-coding RNA proteins on lipid droplets can provide new ideas and directions for lipid droplet biology, as well as the study of lipid metabolism and metabolic diseases.