Adipogenin promotes the development of lipid droplets by binding a dodecameric seipin complex.
Li, C., Sun, X.N., Funcke, J.B., Vanharanta, L., Prasanna, X., Gov, K., Li, Y., Virostek, M., Joung, C., Joffin, N., Kanerva, K., Szkalisity, A., Kulig, W., Straub, L., Chen, S., Velasco, J., Cobb, A., La Padula, D., Wang, M.Y., Onodera, T., Voros, C., Kim, D.S., Kim, M., Varlamov, O., Li, Y., Liu, C., Nawrocki, A.R., Zhao, S., Oh, D.Y., Wang, Z.V., Gordillo, R., Goodman, J.M., Wynn, R.M., Henne, W.M., Vattulainen, I., Han, Y., Ikonen, E., Scherer, P.E.(2025) Science 390: eadr9755-eadr9755
- PubMed: 41196993 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr9755
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
9C8D, 9C8E - PubMed Abstract: 
The microprotein adipogenin (Adig) is predominantly expressed in adipose tissues. Here, we found that Adig interacts with seipin to form a stable, rigid complex. We present the structure of the seipin-Adig complex at an overall resolution of ~3.0 angstroms. The structure revealed that mammalian seipin assembles into two distinct oligomeric forms: undecamers and dodecamers. Adig selectively bound to the dodecameric form and enhanced seipin assembly by bridging and stabilizing adjacent subunits. Functionally, this complex promoted lipid droplet development at both early and late stages. In transgenic mice, adipocyte-specific overexpression of Adig increased fat mass and enlarged lipid droplets, whereas Adig deletion disrupted triglyceride accumulation in brown adipose tissues. Thus, Adig can modulate lipid storage through its structural and functional interactions with seipin.
- Touchstone Diabetes Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Organizational Affiliation: 
















