α-Synuclein acts as a cholesteryl-ester sensor on lipid droplets regulating organelle size and abundance.
While aggregated alpha-Synuclein (Syn) is commonly associated with Parkinsons disease, its physiological function as a membrane-binding protein is poorly understood. Here, we show that endogenous Syn binds lipid droplets (LDs) in multiple human cell lines and in stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons. LD-binding encompasses Syn residues 1-100, which masks their detection by immunofluorescence microscopy, probably explaining the scarcity of similar observations in earlier studies. Syn-LD interactions are highly temperature-sensitive and selective for cholesteryl-ester-rich LDs. They promote the formation of Syn multimers that dissociate from LDs at non-permissive temperatures. Syn remains LD-bound throughout starvation-induced lipolysis, whereas siRNA-knockdown diminishes LD abundance and compromises cell viability upon nutrient depletion, without affecting LD biosynthesis. Reciprocally, excess Syn stimulates LD accumulation in dependence of lipid availability, restricts organelle size and ensures intracellular LD organization, which strictly depends on functional membrane-binding. Supporting a general role of Syn in cellular lipid and cholesterol metabolism, our results point to additional loss-of-function similarities between Parkinsons, Alzheimers and Gauchers disease.