The Glia-Neuron Lactate Shuttle and Elevated ROS Promote Lipid Synthesis in Neurons and Lipid Droplet Accumulation in Glia via APOE/D (Cell Metabolism)

Liu et al. unravel an evolutionarily conserved mechanism which brings neuron-glia metabolic cooperation full circle. They show that glial lactate can fuel neuronal lipogenesis in response to ROS; in turn, neuronal lipids are transported and stored in glia as lipid droplets. The inability to transport lipids to glia for lipid droplet formation leads to accelerated neurodegeneration under stress.