Essential role of fats throughout the lifecycle. Background: the renaissance of fat: roles in membrane structure, signal transduction and gene expression.

The intracellular and intramembrane profiles of fatty acids mirror those of dietary fat intake. The properties of transporter and receptor proteins embedded within cell membranes are influenced by the composition of the phospholipid membrane of cells. Many cell-signalling pathways involve lipids or lipid-derived molecules. Specific fatty acids are increasingly being identified as key regulators of gene expression and tissue differentiation.