Confocal microscopy of cytoplasmic lipid droplets in a live cancer cell: number, polarity, diffusion and solvation dynamics

Time resolved confocal microscopy indicates that the cytoplasmic lipid droplets (CLDs) in live cells (normal and cancer lung cells) are less polar, and exhibit slower diffusion (motility) and solvation dynamics than the cytoplasm. The number of CLDs in a human lung cancer cell (A549) is similar to 10 times higher than in a non-cancer lung fibroblast cell (WI38). This may result in accumulation of non-polar cell signaling agents in the CLDs of the cancer cell.