Perilipin 5 (PLIN5)

Members of the perilipin family, such as PLIN5, coat intracellular lipid storage droplets and protect them from lipolytic degradation.

By searching EST databases using a conserved perilipin motif, Dalen et al. (2007) identified human PLIN5, which they called LSDP5. The predicted 463-amino acid protein is 74% identical to the mouse protein. Northern blot analysis of human tissues revealed expression of a major 2.5-kb transcript in skeletal muscle and liver, with weaker expression in heart and kidney. In heart, a 5.0-kb transcript was also expressed. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated expression of mouse Lsdp5 around lipid storage droplets in transfected cells. Lsdp5 expression was upregulated by fasting independently of Ppara.