Lipid metabolism in homeostasis and disease

Zhenghao Li; Wende Deng; Lanxuan Yang; Changheng Tang; Jian-Min Yue; Olivia Monteiro; Daniel T. Baptista-Hon; Ting Li

PMC · DOI:10.1038/s41392-025-02357-x·February 16, 2026

Lipid metabolism in homeostasis and disease

Zhenghao Li, Wende Deng, Lanxuan Yang, Changheng Tang, Jian-Min Yue, Olivia Monteiro, Daniel T. Baptista-Hon, Ting Li

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Open Access

TL;DR

This review explores how lipid metabolism affects immune cells and contributes to diseases like cancer and diabetes, highlighting potential new treatments.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of lipid metabolism's role in immune cell regulation and its therapeutic implications.

Findings

01

Lipid metabolism significantly influences immune cell function and disease progression.

02

Regulation of lipid metabolism involves multiple levels, including genetic and epigenetic mechanisms.

03

Targeting lipid metabolism offers new therapeutic strategies for immune-related diseases.

Abstract

Lipid metabolism is essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis, and its dysregulation is linked to various diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Immune cells, such as macrophages, T cells, B cells, and neutrophils, rely on lipid metabolism for their function, which impacts both innate and adaptive immune responses. Understanding how lipid metabolism influences immune cells is crucial, as it can reveal new therapeutic opportunities for immune-mediated diseases. In this review, we provide a retrospective summary of the research history and milestone events in lipid metabolism research and highlight the importance of lipid metabolism in immune cells. In addition to discussing the various lipid functions, transport, and signaling pathways involved in lipid metabolism, we mainly explore the regulation of immune cell behavior by lipid metabolism, focusing on…

Linked entities

Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.

Genes60

Proteins24

Species15

Bos taurus(bovine · species)Gallus gallus(bantam · species)Mycobacterium tuberculosis variant bovis BCG(no rank)Homo sapiens(human · species)Helicobacter pylori(species)Rattus norvegicus(brown rat · species)Bacteroides(genus)Arctica islandica(species)Citrobacter rodentium(species)Human immunodeficiency virus 1(no rank)Trypanosoma cruzi(species)Histoplasma capsulatum(species)Saccharomyces cerevisiae(baker's yeast · species)Mus musculus(house mouse · species)Caenorhabditis elegans(species)

Cell lines3

TRM— Homo sapiens (Human) · Transformed cell line BMDM1— Mus musculus (Mouse) · Transformed cell line gammadelta-T— Homo sapiens (Human) · Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma · Cancer cell line

Chemicals60

Diseases63

cancer cardiovascular disease diabetes liver damage peripheral neuropathy FAO muscle pain T1DM pulmonary fibrosis dementia amyloid coronary artery disease ovarian cancer allergic diseases liver injury T2DM fat degeneration proinflammatory cytokines enteric virus infection bacterial infections organ damage hypercholesterolemia neuropathic pain heart failure renal lesions IBD EAE breast cancer familial chylomicronemia syndrome cognitive decline ulcerative colitis brain cancer hypertriglyceridemia chronic memory and executive dysfunction infectious disease HIV infection immune dysregulation impaired glucose tolerance bacterial and fungal infections indigestion primary biliary cholangitis hepatocellular carcinoma MS intestinal injury lipid necrosis hypertension abnormalities in lipid metabolism death CRC viral infections subarachnoid hemorrhage leukemic atherogenesis arthritis RA metastasis thrombosis joint swelling cytotoxicity ADH osteoporosis

Mutations2

rs1800777V405

Figures7

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Taxonomy

TopicsCancer, Lipids, and Metabolism · Lipid metabolism and disorders · Immune cells in cancer